![]() ![]() Xinhua, China’s state media agency, barely even mentioned it, and tersely stated “the test spacecraft will operate in orbit for a period of time and then return to a scheduled landing site in China.” The Chinese government tried to keep this third launch low-key. Constructed by the People’s Liberation Army in 1956, Jiuquan is the most military-oriented of China’s four space launch sites. The Shenlong, or “Divine Dragon” spaceplane, rocketed into orbit on December 14 aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The Chinese government has yet to release photos of the Shenlong. Had the American launch occurred on schedule, the two vehicles would have entered space at about the same time-making the Chinese effort look like intentional competition.Ī Long March 2F rocket blasting off into space. Air Force’s X-37B has been performing for more than a decade. Two weeks before this most recent X-37B launch, China’s own mysterious new spacecraft took a page from its American counterpart’s playbook, reportedly deploying six objects into low-Earth orbit from its payload bay, a mission the U.S. It’s not clear where the ultra-secretive spaceplane is headed, but we do know it’s conducting a wide range of research projects, including “operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA,” per a November press release from the U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane into orbit for its seventh unmanned mission, about two weeks behind schedule due to poor weather and technical issues. On December 28 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket blasted the U.S. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |