China's Space Program News Thread

[taxiya]

Hmmm, now you mention it, I might have misunderstood the article. The Chinese words "正在打造的" literally means "currently under construction" or "currently being built". Might it have meant something along the lines of the overall project – not the spaceplane itself – is currently in full swing? I can't say for sure.

Other sources mention that a demonstration/experimental flight has been successful, marking a major milestone breakthrough, while others mention that only a full-scale prototype was expected by 2025, and that commercial service will not begin until 2030.

Take what you will, but I suspect we will see something significant and concrete five years from now.

Besides @Higgle has rightly translated "正在打造的", I can also say the progress in the report. The report says that they have successfully conducted the first "mode transition test of the combined cycle engine in flight". I think this was actually reported a year ago in SDF.

 

[taxiya]

confused am I wrong？
CASIC 2030，CASC 2035
spaceship，worldwide travel，kinda repeat？View attachment 64762View attachment 64763

spaceship is two stage to orbit (TSTO). It's second stage enters LEO. The first stage is 700 to 800 tonnes at takeoff, the second stage is 200 tonnes.
worldwide travel is more like a very high altitude (above 30km), very high speed (mach 6) transport aircraft. It does not leave the atmosphere.

The two are related in development though. The worldwide travel craft is essentially the first stage of the spaceship, or a downsized version because the 200 tonne payload seems to be a overkill.

 

[anzha]

The two are related in development though. The worldwide travel craft is essentially the first stage of the spaceship, or a downsized version because the 200 tonne payload seems to be a overkill.

IDK. Is it service to and from the US?

Speaking as an american here...

 

[gelgoog]

Bonkers. At least try making an interceptor with that kind of performance first.

 

[j818cm]

spaceship is two stage to orbit (TSTO). It's second stage enters LEO. The first stage is 700 to 800 tonnes at takeoff, the second stage is 200 tonnes.
worldwide travel is more like a very high altitude (above 30km), very high speed (mach 6) transport aircraft. It does not leave the atmosphere.

The two are related in development though. The worldwide travel craft is essentially the first stage of the spaceship, or a downsized version because the 200 tonne payload seems to be a overkill.

yeah ur right ，but I mean that both casc & casic the 2 group doing the same thing can be a bit of a waste

 

[taxiya]

yeah ur right ，but I mean that both casc & casic the 2 group doing the same thing can be a bit of a waste

As I see it, not in name but in reality it more resembles two departments of the same company working on a common project.

Don't be tricked by the seemingly two entities. The two are separate only in name but the same one in reality. It is not like Boeing vs. LM, but rather CAC vs. SAC under the same owner. The teams within them can be just moved to one another, same as the project ownership. Basically when observing Chinese space/military/SOE, one should drop the idea of independent competing commercial companies or factions although they do exist, but can be easily broken at will by CPC who is the only boss. We have seen that in China's telecom industry and railway industry repeatedly being broken apart and merged when the true owner sees the need.

Back to the specific program. As far as I know there is only ONE project that is the Combined Cycle Engine based carrier aircraft + space plane orbiter. It seems that CASC leads the program, but you can see that in its slide, the first step is CZ-8R which is a work of CASIC's 8th institute. This is one of the examples that they work together as one person.

 

[broadsword]

Reusable launch will be more common as technology progresses to make lighter materials and engines more powerful, but currently the curve gradient is still in its infancy. But it is not as if the major components like the engines are only existing on the drawing boards. So there is no reason for the space agency to sit around for the technology to be operational on a production plane or rocket before embarking on the r&d. The Americans started their own r&d on hypersonic technology earlier than China, but it was the latter that overhauled their lead from like nowhere.

 

[Temstar]

As I see it, not in name but in reality it more resembles two departments of the same company working on a common project.

Don't be tricked by the seemingly two entities. The two are separate only in name but the same one in reality. It is not like Boeing vs. LM, but rather CAC vs. SAC under the same owner. The teams within them can be just moved to one another, same as the project ownership. Basically when observing Chinese space/military/SOE, one should drop the idea of independent competing commercial companies or factions although they do exist, but can be easily broken at will by CPC who is the only boss. We have seen that in China's telecom industry and railway industry repeatedly being broken apart and merged when the true owner sees the need.

Back to the specific program. As far as I know there is only ONE project that is the Combined Cycle Engine based carrier aircraft + space plane orbiter. It seems that CASC leads the program, but you can see that in its slide, the first step is CZ-8R which is a work of CASIC's 8th institute. This is one of the examples that they work together as one person.

Wasn't DF-16 also built under a similar arrangement?

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (DF-11, DF-21) worked on DF-16 booster
Academy of Rocket Motors Technology (DF-15) worked on DF-16 manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle

Another example of China's 集中力气办大事 philosophy.

 

[taxiya]

Wasn't DF-16 also built under a similar arrangement?

China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (DF-11, DF-21) worked on DF-16 booster
Academy of Rocket Motors Technology (DF-15) worked on DF-16 manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle

Another example of China's 集中力气办大事 philosophy.

Similarly the DF-31 and DF-41 are from CASIC and CASC separately but sharing the same development work in solid rocket.

 

[taxiya]

As I see it, not in name but in reality it more resembles two departments of the same company working on a common project.

Don't be tricked by the seemingly two entities. The two are separate only in name but the same one in reality. It is not like Boeing vs. LM, but rather CAC vs. SAC under the same owner. The teams within them can be just moved to one another, same as the project ownership. Basically when observing Chinese space/military/SOE, one should drop the idea of independent competing commercial companies or factions although they do exist, but can be easily broken at will by CPC who is the only boss. We have seen that in China's telecom industry and railway industry repeatedly being broken apart and merged when the true owner sees the need.

Back to the specific program. As far as I know there is only ONE project that is the Combined Cycle Engine based carrier aircraft + space plane orbiter. It seems that CASC leads the program, but you can see that in its slide, the first step is CZ-8R which is a work of CASIC's 8th institute. This is one of the examples that they work together as one person.

Correction, I misplaced the I in the names. It should have been academy instead of institute. It should have been:

It seems that CASIC leads the program, but you can see that in its slide, the first step is CZ-8R which is a work of CASC's 8th academy. This is one of the examples that they work together as one person.

CASIC, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation.
CASC, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.