China’s X-37B copy lands successfully after 276 days in orbit
China’s reusable mini-shuttle, essentially a copy of Boeing’s X-37B, has completed its second flight, landing in China on a runway after 276 days in orbit.
The project will provide a more convenient and inexpensive way to access space for the peaceful use of space in the future, according to the statement.
The reusable test spacecraft launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert Aug. 4 (UTC), 2022. The spacecraft released an object into orbit, U.S. Space Force tracking data revealed late last year. The small satellite operated in very close proximity to the spaceplane.
This apparent second flight on the secretive spacecraft differs from its first mission in 2020. That flight saw the spaceplane orbit for four days.
During the flight the spaceplane made numerous orbital maneuvers.
Like the X-37B, this reusable mini-shuttle allows China to do many technology experiments in orbit and then return them to Earth for analysis.
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China’s reusable mini-shuttle, essentially a copy of Boeing’s X-37B, has completed its second flight, landing in China on a runway after 276 days in orbit.
The project will provide a more convenient and inexpensive way to access space for the peaceful use of space in the future, according to the statement.
The reusable test spacecraft launched from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert Aug. 4 (UTC), 2022. The spacecraft released an object into orbit, U.S. Space Force tracking data revealed late last year. The small satellite operated in very close proximity to the spaceplane.
This apparent second flight on the secretive spacecraft differs from its first mission in 2020. That flight saw the spaceplane orbit for four days.
During the flight the spaceplane made numerous orbital maneuvers.
Like the X-37B, this reusable mini-shuttle allows China to do many technology experiments in orbit and then return them to Earth for analysis.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the 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. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
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.
Could the X-37B be launched by a recoverable Falcon-9 or Falcon Heavy booster?
Steve,
Yes. It has already been done. If you look up USA-277 or OTV-5, you will see a Falcon-9 being used. I think that was the only time, and the rest were Atlas-5 rockets.
The CCP now has an orbital nuclear bomber, just like the USA one. Ideal for a decapitation attack with minimal warning.
Mike Borgelt–
Ingenius! I honestly never thought of that.
What kind of payload does this thing hold? If the internet is to be believed, our fusion-weapons weigh between 400-800 lbs. each, depending on configuration.
https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-completes-first-production-unit-w88-alteration-370