China Secretly Launches Reusable Suborbital Vehicle; Did It Land Successfully?

China's domestically developed, reusable suborbital spacecraft successfully took off and returned to Earth on Friday. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said the unnamed vessel was launched from the Jiuquan launch center in the Gansu region. It completed its inaugural flight as planned and landed safely on an airstrip in nearby Inner Mongolia.

Experts lauded the advancements in reusable spacecraft as a significant step toward developing self-built space planes, praising them for laying a solid foundation for additional Earth-space shuttles.

CASC described the vessel as laying "a solid foundation for developing China's reusable space transport technology between Earth and space." In other words, they are laying the groundwork for developing a reusable hypersonic spaceplane.

(Photo: Photo by Joel Kowsky/NASA via Getty Images)
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL - APRIL 23: In this NASA handout, A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft is launched on NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Thomas Pesquet, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide onboard, Friday, April 23, 2021, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida

There were no photographs, footage, or more details supplied, such as height, flight length, or propulsion systems. CASC said the vehicle employs combined aviation and space technology and has a VTHL profile (vertical takeoff and horizontal landing).

China Develops Reusable Space Transportation System

Last year, the CASC announced its plans to develop a reusable space transportation system. The project would entail developing a series of spaceships that take off and land like ordinary planes but can fly at least five times the speed of sound at a suborbital altitude to reach any corner of the Earth in under an hour.

Because they are easier to maintain and have a shorter preparation time, a network of these planes would be less expensive to run than traditional rockets.

Song Zhongping, a space analyst and TV commentator, told Global Times that suborbital spacecraft is designed to send payloads to around 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The expert said the spaceship might be utilized for a variety of purposes, including ferrying satellites.

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According to Song, suborbital spacecraft, which take off vertically and land horizontally, can be developed into space vehicles.

The space planes are expected to be completed by 2045. However, the first part of the project involves developing a rocket-powered vertical takeoff landing vehicle.

"[It] can be used as a substage of a reusable space transport system powered by lift rocket engines, which is an advanced integration of space and aviation technology," CASC said in a WeChat announcement.

China reported last year that it had successfully tested another space plane that was launched from a rocket and orbited the Earth for two days before returning safely to Earth.

DARPA XS-1 Military Space Planet Program

The XS-1 program, which attempted to construct a reusable space plane that could transfer small satellites into orbit, was a similar initiative for the US military.

However, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) said last year that the initiative had ended after Boeing resigned, Space.com said.

The flight was hailed as a "major breakthrough" by state media, and the ship is thought to be identical to the US Air Force's X-37B robotic orbiter.

Because the vessels — essentially a form of hypersonic drone — might be used to strike satellites, space stations, or terrestrial targets and intercept ballistic missiles, such technology could be employed as a key weapon in space.

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