China has announced plans for a mini-space shuttle, it will be unmanned, launched by a reusable rocket, and for cargo delivery to the Chinese space station.
China has announced plans for a mini-space shuttle, it will be unmanned, launched by a reusable rocket, and for cargo delivery to the Chinese space station.
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China's Proposed Cargo Shuttle, the Haolong, Has Entered Development
We rarely hear of the Chinese space program in western media, but it keeps doing interesting things. A recent launch tested an inflatable module for their space station. That was an idea that once seemed promising for the ISS, via Bigelow Aerospace, but never seemed to go anywhere.
This cargo mini-shuttle concept isn't new either. Thirty years ago an ESA version called Hermes got to the advanced planning stage before being scrapped. Some people have doubts that space planes, even launched with reusable rockets, are all that efficient, so it will be interesting to see how this fares.
The big advantage they have is that you don't have to fish them out of the sea. If they can make it work, that will be a huge step forward.
I bet we'll see some inflatable modules on at least one of the upcoming commercial space stations. Sierra Space have continued testing where Bigelow left off.