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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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!