China’s Lengthy March-2F provider rocket transporting the manned spacecraft Shenzhou-11 blasts off from the launch pad on the Jiuquan Satellite tv for pc Launch Middle in Jiuquan, northwestern China’s Gansu province.
An experimental Chinese language spacecraft returned to Earth on Monday after staying in orbit for 276 days, China’s state media reported, finishing a landmark mission to check the nation’s reusable house applied sciences.
The uncrewed spacecraft returned to the Jiuquan launch centre in northwest China on Monday as scheduled, in keeping with state media.
No particulars got on what the spacecraft was, what applied sciences have been examined, how excessive it flew, and the place its orbits had taken it since its launch in early August 2022. Photographs of the craft have additionally but to be launched to the general public.
The take a look at marks an “important” breakthrough in China’s analysis into reusable spacecraft know-how that can present a extra handy and cheap technique to mount future house missions, state media reported.
In 2021, what might have been the same spacecraft flew to the sting of house and returned to Earth on the identical day in a mission that was additionally saved largely beneath wraps. It landed on Earth “horizontally,” in keeping with China’s foremost house contractor on the time.
Commentators on Chinese language social media have speculated that Beijing has been creating a spacecraft just like the US Air Drive’s X-37B, an autonomous spaceplane that may stay in orbit for years.
The uncrewed and reusable X-37B returned to Earth in November final yr in its sixth and newest mission, after greater than 900 days in orbit.
