On December 14, China A reusable robotic spacecraft has been successfully launched for the third time since 2020, carrying six secret satellites. what the subject is about?
It did so with the aim of developing reusable technologies to reduce the costs of space missions.
An unmanned spacecraft was launched on a rocket Long March 2FLocal media reported that the same series of rockets that China uses to transport astronauts into space are located at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.
The spacecraft will operate in orbit “for a period of time” before returning to its designated landing site in China.
During his flight, reusable technologies will be “verified” and space experiments will be conducted, state media reported, without providing further details.
The spacecraft’s last launch was in August 2022. It returned to Earth after 276 days in orbit.
Ship of secrets
With regard to testing, No details were provided about the technologies tested or how high they were. Images of the spacecraft were never shown to the public.
However, Space.com detailed this The plane appears to have placed six objects in orbit called OBJECT A, B, C, D, E and F.
At least one of them (A) emits modulated signals with a small amount of data.
Radio astronomer Scott Tilley Signals were also detected coming from objects D and E. They believe that one of the detected objects (B or E, according to Tilly) could be the spaceplane itself, while A could be its main companion.
China’s plans
China’s plans to create a reusable spacecraft, which some call Xinlong or “divine dragon” in Chinese, coincide with an equally secret US program to fly an autonomous spaceplane known as the X-37B.
The Chinese launch came hours after SpaceX canceled the countdown to a new X-37B launch for the third time this week due to weather and technical issues at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. a pot In Florida.
Warning to the United States?
A new launch date has not been announced yet
The Pentagon released few details about the mission, which is being overseen by the US Space Force under the military’s National Security Space Launch Program.
“It’s not surprising that the Chinese are very interested in our spaceplane. We’re very interested in theirs,” said Space Force General P. Chance Saltzman, quoted in Air & Space Forces, an American aviation and space magazine.
The Chinese missile was the trend
Searches for China on Google Trends have increased in recent hours due to the mysterious launch.
In the graph (image) you can see the search peaks generated by the topic.
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