China has successfully tested a reusable suborbital spacecraft

At the beginning of August, news emerged of the successful trial of one reusable space plane by the China which should be very similar to the US X-37B. This solution is of the orbital type and can spend several weeks, if not months, in space to carry out different types of operations (covered by secrecy). But this is not the only model.

Always there Chinain recent days, has also launched and landed one reusable suborbital spaceplane. It is therefore a different model in terms of structure and flight capabilities but which demonstrates how the Asian state intends to try to develop this kind of aircraft that could then lead to manned (or cargo version) spacecraft. Once again, however, information is scarce.

China and reusable space planes

As written above, this is not a novelty in an absolute sense. It was already known that the Chinaalso through the eminent engineer Long Lehao (designer and creator of the Long March space rocket series), he intended to focus on these aircraft, both in orbital and suborbital versions. These tests therefore seem a logical consequence of the development of the Chinese space industry but also of an interesting technical capacity on the part of the Asian nation. Furthermore, the differentiation of available aircraft and carriers will allow for a greater number of operations.

The confirmation of the test was also given by the official bodies, such as the (state) manufacturer CASC. In particular we know that this model of reusable suborbital spaceplane uses a vertical launch system, through a space rocket and horizontal landing like a standard airplane (VTHL, vertical take-off – horizontal landing) thus allowing rapid reuse and without the need for complex recovery operations.

The launch took place from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in central Mongolia while the landing at Alxa Right Banner Airport (visible in the satellite image above), covering a distance of about 300 km to the south-east. This should be the second flight for this unit or the first after the reuse suborbital space plane. As with other models of this type, both Chinese and other countries (in particular the USA) are very little technical information available to the public. To get further news on this, it will be necessary to wait until China wants to disseminate, at least partially, the technical aspects of these aircraft in order to get a clearer idea of ​​what the uses could be.

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