China conducts spaceplane flight test

On Friday, China carried out a key flight test of its reusable suborbital spaceplane, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor.

The State-owned company said in a news release that the spaceplane started its own propulsion system and then conducted a vertical liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert on Friday morning.

After completing a preplanned suborbital flight, the craft made a conventional landing on the runway at the Alxa Right Banner Airport in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the release said, noting that the test marked the first flight by a used suborbital spaceplane in China.

Incorporating both aviation and space technology, the spacecraft was designed and constructed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing and was unveiled in July last year when it performed its first takeoff from the Jiuquan center and flew back to the Alxa Right Banner Airport.

After the debut mission, the vehicle underwent a host of examinations and maintenance work, according to the company.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp has been progressing steadily in its reusable vehicle project.

By now, the company has flight-tested two reusable experimental spacecrafts from the Jiuquan center. Earlier this month, the second of such crafts was launched and seems to still be flying in orbit.

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, another space contractor, is also working on a reusable spaceplane and plans to put it to commercial flight by 2030.