ORAC
17th Jul 2021, 08:13
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/41581/china-says-it-conducted-a-successful-suborbital-test-of-a-reusable-spaceplane
China Says It Conducted A Successful Suborbital Test Of A Reusable Spaceplane
The state-run China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, released a statement earlier today stating that it had successfully carried out the first suborbital test of a reusable space vehicle (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36270/this-remote-base-with-a-massive-runway-looks-to-be-where-chinas-secretive-spacecraft-landed) that can land in a similar fashion to a traditional plane.
Details about the test and the spaceplane itself are limited, but CASC has been publicly working on such technologies, ostensibly for commercial use, for years now (https://www.thedrive.com/news/5446/china-wants-to-build-a-giant-space-plane-for-tourists) and had previously said it expected to carry out such a flight test last year.
A Chinese-language statement (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ncJePW1znFexqkSbZ-0YRg) from CASC said that it had launched the spaceplane from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36202/u-s-confirms-china-has-launched-what-could-be-its-version-of-x-37b-spaceplane), which sits in a part of the Gobi Desert in China's Inner Mongolia region.
The corporation said that the vehicle subsequently landed "horizontally" at Alxa Right Banner Badanjilin Airport, which is also in Inner Mongolia and is situated some 220 kilometers, or almost 137 miles, southeast of Jiuquan.
No details were provided about the spaceplane's basic design or performance specifications, or how long the flight lasted, how high it flew, and whether any payloads were aboard at the time.….
CASC also did not say how the spaceplane gets aloft and stays there, or how it then maneuvers back to Earth. However, back in 2016, the company had described plans (https://www.thedrive.com/news/5446/china-wants-to-build-a-giant-space-plane-for-tourists) for a vehicle that is boosted initially by a traditional space launch rocket and then get the rest of the way with a secondary booster. It would return to Earth in an unpowered mode.
This would fit well with a launch from Jiuquan, which regularly conducts more traditional space launches. Jiuquan was also the site of the launch of another, secretive "reusable experimental spacecraft (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36202/u-s-confirms-china-has-launched-what-could-be-its-version-of-x-37b-spaceplane)" last year using a Long March 2F carrier rocket.
That vehicle appeared to have subsequently landed a remote airstrip (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36270/this-remote-base-with-a-massive-runway-looks-to-be-where-chinas-secretive-spacecraft-landed) near China's Lop Nor nuclear test site and could be related to a military spaceplane project called Shenlong (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/30531/china-reveals-wind-tunnel-tests-of-space-plane-launching-high-speed-mothership-aircraft).
This latest spaceplane test, which appears to be unrelated, at least officially, to the one last year, would also align with CASC's stated plans, as of 2016, to develop such a flight vehicle that could reach the Karman Line. At that time, the projected design was described as an 11-ton vehicle with a wingspan of 21 feet that would be capable of carrying five people.….
If the flight test today is indeed related to the projects that CASC was publicly discussing in 2016 and 2017, it would seem that the vehicle in question is ostensibly intended for commercial use. This is bolstered by the fact the flight ended at a public regional airport, rather than an isolated military test center.
With this in mind, it's also worth pointing out that this announcement comes just days after space tourism firm Virgin Galatic's founder Richard Branson and three other passengers flew to the edge (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/11/richard-branson-reaches-space-on-virgin-galactic-flight.html) of the Karman Line in the company's VSS Unity (https://www.virgingalactic.com/articles/virgin-galactic-announces-first-fully-crewed-spaceflight/)…..
China Says It Conducted A Successful Suborbital Test Of A Reusable Spaceplane
The state-run China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, or CASC, released a statement earlier today stating that it had successfully carried out the first suborbital test of a reusable space vehicle (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36270/this-remote-base-with-a-massive-runway-looks-to-be-where-chinas-secretive-spacecraft-landed) that can land in a similar fashion to a traditional plane.
Details about the test and the spaceplane itself are limited, but CASC has been publicly working on such technologies, ostensibly for commercial use, for years now (https://www.thedrive.com/news/5446/china-wants-to-build-a-giant-space-plane-for-tourists) and had previously said it expected to carry out such a flight test last year.
A Chinese-language statement (https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/ncJePW1znFexqkSbZ-0YRg) from CASC said that it had launched the spaceplane from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36202/u-s-confirms-china-has-launched-what-could-be-its-version-of-x-37b-spaceplane), which sits in a part of the Gobi Desert in China's Inner Mongolia region.
The corporation said that the vehicle subsequently landed "horizontally" at Alxa Right Banner Badanjilin Airport, which is also in Inner Mongolia and is situated some 220 kilometers, or almost 137 miles, southeast of Jiuquan.
No details were provided about the spaceplane's basic design or performance specifications, or how long the flight lasted, how high it flew, and whether any payloads were aboard at the time.….
CASC also did not say how the spaceplane gets aloft and stays there, or how it then maneuvers back to Earth. However, back in 2016, the company had described plans (https://www.thedrive.com/news/5446/china-wants-to-build-a-giant-space-plane-for-tourists) for a vehicle that is boosted initially by a traditional space launch rocket and then get the rest of the way with a secondary booster. It would return to Earth in an unpowered mode.
This would fit well with a launch from Jiuquan, which regularly conducts more traditional space launches. Jiuquan was also the site of the launch of another, secretive "reusable experimental spacecraft (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36202/u-s-confirms-china-has-launched-what-could-be-its-version-of-x-37b-spaceplane)" last year using a Long March 2F carrier rocket.
That vehicle appeared to have subsequently landed a remote airstrip (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/36270/this-remote-base-with-a-massive-runway-looks-to-be-where-chinas-secretive-spacecraft-landed) near China's Lop Nor nuclear test site and could be related to a military spaceplane project called Shenlong (https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/30531/china-reveals-wind-tunnel-tests-of-space-plane-launching-high-speed-mothership-aircraft).
This latest spaceplane test, which appears to be unrelated, at least officially, to the one last year, would also align with CASC's stated plans, as of 2016, to develop such a flight vehicle that could reach the Karman Line. At that time, the projected design was described as an 11-ton vehicle with a wingspan of 21 feet that would be capable of carrying five people.….
If the flight test today is indeed related to the projects that CASC was publicly discussing in 2016 and 2017, it would seem that the vehicle in question is ostensibly intended for commercial use. This is bolstered by the fact the flight ended at a public regional airport, rather than an isolated military test center.
With this in mind, it's also worth pointing out that this announcement comes just days after space tourism firm Virgin Galatic's founder Richard Branson and three other passengers flew to the edge (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/11/richard-branson-reaches-space-on-virgin-galactic-flight.html) of the Karman Line in the company's VSS Unity (https://www.virgingalactic.com/articles/virgin-galactic-announces-first-fully-crewed-spaceflight/)…..