China Successfully Launches Reusable Suborbital Carrier Vehicle

AltMachine writes: China conducted a clandestine first test flight of a reusable suborbital vehicle Friday as a part of development of a reusable space transportation system. The vertical takeoff and horizontal landing (VTHL) vehicle launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Friday and later landed at an airport just over 800 kilometers away at Alxa League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) announced. The test follows a September 2020 test flight of a “reusable experimental spacecraft”. The spacecraft orbited for days, releasing a small transmitting payload and later deorbited and landed horizontally. So far, not a single real photo of either plane has been revealed. According to CASC’s China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the aim was full reusability, moving beyond partial reusability of Falcon 9-like launchers, though several Chinese companies are also developing reusable rockets. While the U.S. X-37B, a rocket-launched spaceplane, has flown several times, Boeing exited the Experimental Spaceplane (XSP) program, also known as the XS-1 program, another VTHL concept.