China launches “reusable experimental spacecraft”
According to the official Chinese press, China today successfully used its Long March 2F rocket to place into orbit a “reusable experimental spacecraft.”
To say the information provided was terse is to be extravagant. This is it:
After a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to its scheduled landing site in China. It will test reusable technologies and in-orbit service technologies as planned during its flight, providing technological support for the peaceful use of space.
It appears, based on the size of the rocket, that this spacecraft is likely a copy of Boeing’s X-37B.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
33 SpaceX
28 China
10 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
5 ULA
The U.S. still leads China 48 to 28 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 48 to 45.
These numbers should change within the next half hour, as SpaceX is about to launch another rocket.
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According to the official Chinese press, China today successfully used its Long March 2F rocket to place into orbit a “reusable experimental spacecraft.”
To say the information provided was terse is to be extravagant. This is it:
After a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to its scheduled landing site in China. It will test reusable technologies and in-orbit service technologies as planned during its flight, providing technological support for the peaceful use of space.
It appears, based on the size of the rocket, that this spacecraft is likely a copy of Boeing’s X-37B.
The leaders in the 2022 launch race:
33 SpaceX
28 China
10 Russia
6 Rocket Lab
5 ULA
The U.S. still leads China 48 to 28 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 48 to 45.
These numbers should change within the next half hour, as SpaceX is about to launch another rocket.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
You forgot to include “design stolen from US commercial designs”
The Chinese Orbital Bomber copy of the USAF Orbital Bomber X-37B.
The chi-coms are doing the same thing the Soviets did! If the US builds one, then they must build one. Complete copy-cats! Never a new idea in the chi-com paradise, no one dares take the chance!