Would be nice if something like this can be built 
. If China can master maglev under vacuum I can see this achievable.
. If China can master maglev under vacuum I can see this achievable.
China's Space Program News Thread
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Don't think any current equipment can survive these forces. Satellites, orbiters, landers, rovers etc have extremely delicate parts that can just about tolerate the forces of the rocket boosting them. Even then, many fail. These projects are pipe dreams. You can't build a space cannon for humans and as things currently are, there's a lot of work to harden everything else.
That wind tunnel test looks suspiciously like the H2 space plane:
H2 is two stage fully reusable manned spacecraft. What if Shenlong is a demonstrator for the H2's orbiter stage?
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
SinoSoldier
Colonel
Allegedly the line diagram of the reusable spacecraft, from Huitong's page:
Also noteworthy, it seems as if the vehicle came down / landed at Lop Nor (Lop Nur)
Air resistance is only one problem. The other much bigger problem is the gravity, therefor extreme force on the spacecraft when accelerating. It is impossible on earth with today's technology.Would be nice if something like this can be built
BUT the moon has only 16.3% of earth, maybe it is doable on the moon base with today's technology. I think Ma Weiming's EM space launcher is aimed for future moon base rather than earth as most people think.
EM launching from the moon surface will greatly reduce the fuel need, you will only need fuel for landing and a little left for orbit maneuver to re-dock with the earth returning module.
The design is matured now, note the similarity to X-37 and SR-72
SR -72
Both will feature State of the art combined cycle engine, interesting enough China already has an article that passed ground tests.
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