Reusable experimental spacecraft returns

China's reusable experimental spacecraft returned to Earth on Friday morning after completing its 268-day orbital journey, according to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwestern desert.

The test's success has indicated that China's reusable spacecraft technologies have matured, and they will provide a convenient and affordable commuting method between outer space and Earth, the center said in a brief news release, without elaborating.

The robotic spacecraft was launched by a Long March 2F carrier rocket at the Jiuquan center on Dec 14.

It was tasked with verifying reusable technologies and carrying out space science experiments, laying a technological foundation for the peaceful use of space, according to the center.

The completed mission was the third that China has made public relating to reusable experimental spacecraft.

The country's first orbital test of a trial vehicle took place in September 2020, with the craft in orbit for just under two days.

The second test started in August 2022 and the spacecraft stayed in the Earth's orbit for 276 days before landing in May 2023.

Both spacecraft in the previous two tests — it is not known whether they were of the same type — were launched by Long March 2F rockets from the Jiuquan center.

Currently, only China and the United States have reusable spacecraft, which were first initiated by the US in the 1970s. The icon of this concept — the US space shuttles — operated for three decades before their retirement in 2011 due to technical and fiscal difficulties.

In recent years, advances in science and technology have reignited the space industry's enthusiasm for reusable spaceships, especially robotic space-planes such as the Boeing X-37B, which are smaller, cheaper and less sophisticated in terms of design, production and operation.

China's State-owned space conglomerates have been studying and demonstrating reusable technologies for the space program for several years.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the nation's two largest suppliers of rockets and spacecraft, are running their own programs that share the same goal — making their space products reusable — to reduce users' costs and improve operational efficiency.

A space industry insider who wished to remain anonymous said that reusable spacecraft will be crucial when it comes to a space power's capability and status in the international space community.

"Such technologies are indispensable when you want to develop your own communications network as massive and capable as the Starlink (of SpaceX) or establish a rapid transport system between Earth and orbit," he said.