China has given the green light to a new space shuttle more than a decade after the United States pulled the plug on its own programme.
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The reusable Haolong vessel will be uncrewed and aims to cut the cost of transporting cargo to and from China’s Tiangong space station and boost efficiency.
Lin Xiqiang, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency, said the agency has been searching for low-cost transporters to supply Tiangong, and the Haolong was one of two that has been given a contract to undergo engineering flight verification. The other spacecraft will not be reusable.
“In order to further reduce the cost of uplink cargo transport for the Chinese space station, enhance the flexibility of uplink cargo transport and explore the development of commercial space models, last year we issued a notice to solicit an overall plan for low-cost cargo transport systems for the space station,” Lin told a press conference ahead of the launch of the Shenzhou-19 mission to the space station.
The Haolong cargo shuttle was designed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute, an affiliate of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
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It is a reusable winged commercial spacecraft that can be launched by a carrier rocket and will be capable of docking with the Tiangong space station. Upon re-entry, the shuttle will be able to land horizontally on an airport runway.
The design features a large wingspan and a high lift-to-drag ratio, could allow the space shuttle to carry large payloads, a post on one of AVIC’s official social platforms said.