Just under a year ago, China launched a mysterious spacecraft, sparking the curiosity of many. Now this experimental vehicle returned from a 276-day space trip; despite his secrecy, the mission appears to have been a success.
The Chinese media and those responsible for the construction of the aircraft (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.) announced their return, which took place on Monday 8 May. However, no images nor the landing site have been released.
The spacecraft is covered by absolute secrecy. Among the few details available, we know that the project should be linked to an important breakthrough in Chinese research on reusable rocket technology. The purpose of the program is in fact to “develop more convenient methods for the peaceful use of space in the future“.
Furthermore, as had already been reported, it seems that the rocket – together with its payload – had tested some very similar technologies to the X-37B space plane, of the Space Force American.
After reaching orbit, the Chinese vehicle released a small satellite into space, which was tracked by the Space Force late last year. Apparently, this second mission (the first dates back to 2020) was a success as regards the tests carried outalthough unfortunately we do not know its nature.
All we know is that the vehicle was launched from the Gobi Desert in August 2022 aboard the Long March 2F rocket. The spacecraft is probably tethered to a reusable space transportation system two-stage (two-stage-to-orbit).
