China took another big step in its space program, starting this past Thursday (04/08) another testing phase with a reusable spacecraft, similar to the one used by the USA.
The great attraction of reusable spacecraft is to reduce the overall cost of space missions, carrying astronauts and a good amount of cargo on board several times.
The launch took place at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. According to the state press agency Xinhua, the rocket used was the Long March-2F, and the spacecraft will carry out tests in orbit before returning to Earth.
Previously, the Asian country had already carried out a mission using this reusable spacecraft, in September 2020, and again tested the technology. As usual, local media outlets shared few details, and there are no photos ing the mission.
Last time, China took advantage of the launch and orbiting vehicle to put a small satellite into space. For comparison, the X-37 broke its Earth orbit record, and has been in space for more than 800 days.
The suspicion is that China, like the United States, is studying a vehicle like the Boeing X-37, with autonomous driving and used only for studies of future missions.
The US vehicle is about 8,8 meters long and 2,9 meters tall, with a wingspan of just 4,6 meters. The design is very similar to the famous Space Shuttle, but the dimensions are smaller, since it is only a vehicle for small loads.
