Recently, the American reusable unmanned orbital aircraft Boeing X-37B (in the title photo) completed a record-breaking 908-day flight. Its Chinese counterpart, which has been in orbit for over a hundred days, also sets its records. The program of the Chinese orbital plane is shrouded in an even denser fog of mystery than the X-37B. Half jokingly, half seriously, it can be said that it is so secret that we do not even know the official designation of the program.
The Chinese orbital plane was launched into orbit on August 4 aboard the Chang Zheng (Long March) 2F launch vehicle. The launch took place from the Jiuquan Space Center in the Gobi Desert. Initially, the plane circulated in an orbit measuring 346 by 593 kilometers. On October 23, the object raised its perigee, the point where it is closest to Earth, and entered a nearly circular orbit measuring 597 by 608 kilometers.
We owe such accurate data to the US Space Force’s 18th Squadron, which monitors all activity in Earth orbit. But this is not the end of external information about the Chinese orbital plane. On October 31, the Americans announced the detection of a small object near it. Most likely, the Chinese vehicle released the load being carried. The question remains what it was. The currently most popular explanation points to a small satellite. China’s Tiangong manned spacecraft normally use Banxing companion satellites to monitor them from the outside.
Mission Update
China Spaceplane Test
Yesterday at around 07:30 UTC, nearly eight weeks after launch, it used thrusters to raise perigee and produce ~600 km circular orbit, inclination unchanged
Detailed figureshttps://t.co/RpUCH03yiP#China #spaceplane #shuttle #orbit #news pic.twitter.com/dUarH1uApT
— Orbital Focus (@OrbitalFocus) October 24, 2022
This is not the first such case. During the first two-day flight in September 2020, a Chinese spaceplane also placed an object in orbit, which broadcast S-band transmissions for the next few weeks. The target tasks for the Chinese spaceplane are very similar and as vague as those of its American counterpart . The Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CATL) points to the transport of cargo and people into orbit.
Pride in undoubted achievements and the desire to popularize space exploration in society, however, led to the, perhaps unconscious, disclosure of some information about the space plane. In August, an exhibition of the remains of the CZ 2F launch vehicle was organized on the grounds of Jiyuan High School. On this basis, it was possible to calculate that the dimensions of the Chinese orbital plane are similar to the X-37B. The latter is 9 meters long and 4.55 meters wide. With a maximum take-off weight of 4,990 kilograms, it can take 227 kilograms of cargo.
Fairing of CZ2F rocket which launched CSSHQ on Aug 5 being openly exhibited in Henan Jiyuan No.1 middle school. If the bumps are spare spaces for wings, CSSHQ’s wingspan could be larger than fairing’s diameter 4.2m. HD: https://t.co/aPZ6MvDdZq Credit: TikTok Douyin@hnsjydyzx pic.twitter.com/6i3mXPvFLe
— CNSA Watcher (@CNSAWatcher) August 14, 2022
Not the only such project
CATL, which is part of CASC, the main contractor in the Chinese space program, is working on the orbital plane project. But this is not the only such project implemented by this corporation. On August 26, CASC reported the successful first multiple use of a suborbital aircraft. Apparently, in Beijing, it was decided to create a two-stage reusable launch system.
As in the case of the orbital plane, there is also a lack of information about its suborbital brother. CASC did not say how many launches were made, how long the machine was out of the atmosphere, let alone the photos. It is only known that the first flight of a suborbital aircraft took place in July 2021. In both cases, the spacecraft was carried into orbit by the Long March family launch vehicle from the Jiuquan center and landed in the classic way at the airport in Alxa Youqi in Inner Mongolia.
The “space transport roadmap” published by CASC in 2017 indicates the corporation’s ambitious plans for the coming decades. By 2030, a spaceplane capable of entering orbit on its own is to be developed. In parallel, reusable launch vehicles are being developed, and a nuclear-powered space shuttle is to be built by 2045. This coincides with the space authorities’ white paper published in January this year. The document places great emphasis on the development of means and technologies for transport to reusable orbit.
As you can see, Beijing attaches great importance to the space program and intends to allocate large funds for this purpose in the coming years. This in turn generates interest from other entities such as CASIC, CASC’s main competitor. Let us add that both corporations are, of course, state-owned companies, the Chinese Communist Party basically does not trust private entrepreneurs again, at least in areas considered strategic. It is enough to mention the pacification of technology companies that has been going on since the “disappearance” of Alibaba founder Jack Ma at the end of 2020.
Coming back to CASIC – already in 2016, the company announced its own Tengyun space plane program. Most likely, this is an own initiative, because CASIC is very eager to publish graphics and visualizations of the vehicle, trying to attract “higher factors” in this way. In the fall of 2020, the corporation announced that Tengyun would be ready by 2025. An interesting layout of a two-stage aircraft was adopted, in which one, larger machine carries the proper orbital aircraft to the take-off altitude. Another interesting project of CASIC is the creation of a Chinese equivalent of Starlink.
According to a CCTV report and additional other news in certain media outlets, CASIC revealed at the China International Commercial Aerospace Forum that by 2025, China will build a reusable spaceplane, named Tengyun.
They even claim that the spaceplane is already under construction. pic.twitter.com/eyd17xNa37— @Rupprecht_A (@RupprechtDeino) October 21, 2020
Despite the skepticism or even reluctance of the central authorities, private space companies are also developing. In addition to reusable rockets, there are also space planes. Last year, Space Transportation announced the completion of the third round of funding for its hypersonic spaceplane project. Over 300 million yuan (PLN 190 million) was collected. Space Transportation cooperates with Xiamen University, and perhaps for this reason, the state-owned fund Shanghai Guosheng Group was involved in the fundraising. The second factor was the success of the company and the university. In 2019, they successfully tested the Jiageng-1 technology demonstrator.
The prototype’s first manned flight is scheduled for 2025, and the first “full-scale global hypersonic flight,” whatever that term means, is scheduled to take place five years later. Interestingly, Space Transportation targets a prospective and theoretically unpolitical and military segment of the space industry, which is space tourism, although the company aims at suborbital flights.
See also: Five years – that’s how long the era of cruisers in the US Navy will last
U.S. Space Force/Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks
