A Chinese company claimed it’s working on a reusable spaceplane similar to the U.S. Air Force’s secretive X-37B. Unlike the X-37B, which launches into orbit atop a Falcon rocket, the Chinese vehicle would blast off in mid-flight from under the wing of a large “mothership” aircraft.
It’s unclear how far along the Chinese design is, when it might fly for the first time and whether the Chinese government has committed to acquiring the vehicle. Nor is it clear exactly why Beijing would want an X-37B-style spaceplane.
Some observers have speculated that the X-37B could be a weapon-in-disguise that’s capable of intercepting and tampering with enemy satellites. If that were true, a Chinese spaceplane might also represent a military threat. But in fact, the X-37B is almost certainly a test vehicle whose main mission is hosting small science experiments. Were it to become a reality, Beijing’s own version of the X-37B would probably undertake similar missions.
Chinese state television reported on the spaceplane concept on March 7, 2018. An animation accompanying the report depicts a sleek, twin-engine mothership carrying the spaceplane to high altitude. The spaceplane’s single rocket engine boosts the vehicle to low orbit, where it opens dorsal bay doors and deploys a small satellite. The spaceplane returns to Earth and lands like an airplane.
A graphic on the news report indicated the spaceplane would be orbit-ready in 2030.
The new vehicle, reportedly under development by state-owned China Aerospace and Industry Corporation, is actually the second major spaceplane concept to appear in China in recent years. In 2008, a robotic vehicle similar in shape and size to the 29-feet-long X-37B was photographed under the wing of a Chinese bomber.
In January 2011, the Chinese vehicle, reportedly named “Divine Dragon,” flew on its first atmospheric test flight. It’s unclear whether Divine Dragon’s development continued after 2011.
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