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HELSINKI – China carried out the first clandestine test flight of a reusable suborbital vehicle on Friday as part of the development of a reusable space transportation system.
The vehicle was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Friday and then landed at an airport just over 800 kilometers from the Alxa League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CCAC) ad.
No images, footage, or other information such as altitude, flight time or propulsion systems were provided. The CCAC statement, however, indicated that the vehicle uses integrated aeronautical and space technologies and indicates a vertical take-off and horizontal landing (VTHL) profile.
The test follows a test flight in September 2020 of a “reusable experimental spacecraft”. The spacecraft orbited for days, releasing a small transmission payload, then desorbed and landed horizontally. The spaceship is widely believed be a reusable space plane concept, although no image has emerged.
Giant space and defense contractor CASC has also developed this vehicle and said the new vehicle tested on Friday can be used as a first step in a reusable space transportation system. The implication is that the two vehicles will be combined for a fully reusable space transportation system.
The developments did not come out of the blue. China said in 2017 that it aimed to test a reusable space plane in 2020. X-37B space plane is currently carrying out its sixth in-orbit mission. Last year, Boeing got out the Experimental Spaceplane (XSP) program, also known as the XS-1 program, another VTHL concept.
The new test also follows days after a Virgin Galactic flight SpaceshipTwo transported passengers to the edge of space for the first time.
A space plane project was included in a 2017 CCAC “Space Transportation Roadmap”. Plans also called for fully reusable launchers and, around 2045, a nuclear-powered shuttle.
Chen Hongbo, from CASC’s China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), Told Science and Technology Daily (Chinese) in 2017 that the reusable spacecraft would be able to carry both crew and payloads. Chen said some vehicles would have the characteristics of an airplane and a spacecraft. CALT was noted as the developer of Friday’s suborbital reusable demonstration vehicle.
Chen said the goal was full reuse, going beyond partial reuse of Falcon 9-type launchers. The space plane, whose development and testing is to be completed by 2030, is expected to be reusable. more than 20 times.
It will be oriented towards orbital altitudes between 300 and 500 kilometers, will meet the criteria of being “fast, reliable and economical”, and will meet the needs of military and civilian payloads, and will be applicable to space tourism.
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp. (CASIC), another giant state-owned company, is working on its own space plane, named Tengyun. The demonstration and verification of the two-stage Tengyun reusable spacecraft in orbit is to be completed by 2025. Tengyun will be a horizontal take-off and horizontal landing (HTHL) system.
Chinese trading companies and CASC are also developing reusable rockets. A number of private companies are planning “hop” tests in the coming months.
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