![]() ![]() ![]() The spacecraft is likely to be similar to a US spaceplane, the Boeing X-37B, according to Kevin Pollpeter, a senior research scientist at the Center for Naval Analyses, a US government-funded research and analysis organization in Arlington, Virginia. In September 2020, China returned a reusable experimental spacecraft that had spent two days in orbit. ![]() The nine-month mission is probably a second test of the reusable spacecraft. Although the upfront costs are high, the costs of running reusable craft are a fraction of those for single-use craft, making reusable spacecraft attractive if a mission requires several flights. “The complete success of this experiment marks a significant breakthrough in our country’s research on reusable spacecraft technology,” Chinese state media agency Xinhua reported, suggesting that Chinese researchers have developed technology, such as heat shields and landing equipment, specifically for reusable craft.Ĭhina, the US companies Boeing and SpaceX and NASA are the only players to have launched and recovered orbiting reusable craft. Although China has not revealed details about the spacecraft’s design and operation, aerospace engineers have pieced together information from fragments, painting a picture of a craft with potential for research as well as military uses. Credit: Boeing/Sipa/ShutterstockĬhina has landed a mysterious spacecraft that spent nine months in Earth’s orbit, making the nation one of just a handful of entities that have successfully operated a reusable spacecraft. ![]() The Boeing X-37B, pictured here, is thought to have inspired China’s mysterious spaceplane. ![]()
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