The spacecraft spent 276 days in orbit
Mysterious Chinese spacecraft returns to Earth after 276 days in orbit. After nearly a year in orbit, the spacecraft returned to Earth, completing a landmark mission to test the country's reusable space technologies, state media reported.
An experimental Chinese spacecraft has returned to Earth after orbiting for 276 days, Chinese state media reported. The spacecraft has completed a landmark mission to test the country's reusable space technology, the report adds.
Chinese state media reported that the uncrewed spacecraft returned to the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in northwest China as scheduled.
As Sky News notes, the spacecraft was first launched by the Chinese in early August 2022, but did not no details were provided on what kind of spacecraft it was, what technologies were tested, and how high it flew into space.
Images of the ship have also not yet been made public, Sky News emphasizes.
< p>According to state media, the test marks a «major» breakthrough in China's research into reusable spacecraft technology, which will provide a more convenient and inexpensive way to launch future space missions.
In 2021, a similar spacecraft capable of reach the edge of the atmosphere, took off and returned to Earth on the same day, which, according to China, was a big step towards the development of reusable space transport technology.
According to China's top space contractor at the time, it landed «horizontally» on Earth.
Some have speculated on social media that Beijing is developing a spacecraft like the US Air Force's X-37B — an autonomous space plane that can remain in orbit for many years.
The unmanned X-37B reusable returned to Earth last November on its sixth mission after more than 900 days in orbit.
«This [X-37B] mission highlights the Space Force's focus on cooperation in space exploration and expanding low-cost access to space for our partners, both inside and outside the Department of the Air Force (DAF),» said U.S. Gen. Chance Saltzman. , head of space operations.
Last year, China also sent three astronauts to its unfinished space station for six months of construction work, Sky News recalls.
At that time, crew members Chen Dong , Kang Xuzhe and Liu Yang took off and headed towards their mission site.
Last December, the crew returned home safely in high spirits and joyfully greeted the workers at the landing site.
Chen, who first stepped out of the capsule, said, «I feel very fortunate to have witnessed the completion of the basic structure of the Chinese space station after six intense and eventful months in space. Like meteors, we returned to the arms of our homeland.»