China makes experimental flight of reusable suborbital ship

(China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology)

China has conducted a successful test flight of a reusable suborbital aircraft as part of the development of a reusable space transport system.

The details of the flight were not disclosed, but it is known that the device may be a spaceplane, which is launched using a rocket, and it continues its flight using its own engines, according to Space.com.

China is actively engaged in its space program, including looking for opportunities to reduce the cost of developing and operating payload carriers through their reuse.

This can be achieved in two ways: using the recoverable first stages of rockets, like SpaceX, or using reusable spaceplanes.

China has a number of projects of similar ships, such as the Tengfei-1, Tengyun and Tianxing systems, consisting of a reusable spacecraft and a vertical or horizontal launch carrier, which can be used to deliver people and goods into orbit.

Last year, it became known that an experimental reusable spacecraft was sent into orbit, and on July 16, 2021, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced that it had conducted a test flight of a reusable suborbital aircraft as part of the development of a reusable space transport system.

The ship was launched from the Jiuquan launch center and then landed at the airport in Inner Mongolia, which is 220 kilometers from the spaceport.

Photographs and information about the flight have not been released, however, the ship is known to use vertical take-off and horizontal landing technologies, similar to the American shuttle.

The development of reusable spacecraft figures as a task in the roadmap for the development of Chinese astronautics, adopted in 2017.

The CASC expects to complete the work on the Tengyun two-stage reusable horizontal take-off and landing system by 2025.

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