This is apparently what they want to do, a crewed, passenger hypersonic glide vehicle, with retropropulsive landing of both stage, not unlike New Frontiers Aerospace, although maybe (very) slightly more serious.

View: https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1589561395359940608


"Lingkong Tianxing [Space Transportation] expects to complete the flight verification of the aircraft's "Jindouyun" series engine in November and realize the first flight of the supersonic passenger aircraft prototype in 2027."
"Jindouyun" seems to be a liquid-fuelled engine, no?

But on a more practical side, they've launched a lot of Supersonic and hypersonic flying test beds (for CASC, NORINCO, CASIC, CAS, AVIC, Tsinghua and Xiamen Univ...) , 16 in 2022 and Probably 20+ in 2023 looking at that second announcement.

View: https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1615573402504564738

View: https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1710796841556816278
 
Last edited:
Considering the mounting difficulties with NASA Artemis and MSR, I'm really wondering whether the chinese might want to hammer two blows the same year: 2030.
Imagine: nailing MSR and Human Lunar Return the same year. Would be one heck of soft power victory for them. It might be only a coincidence, but both missions dates seems to converge toward 2030.
 
This is apparently what they want to do, a crewed, passenger hypersonic glide vehicle, with retropropulsive landing of both stage, not unlike New Frontiers Aerospace, although maybe (very) slightly more serious.

View: https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1589561395359940608


"Lingkong Tianxing [Space Transportation] expects to complete the flight verification of the aircraft's "Jindouyun" series engine in November and realize the first flight of the supersonic passenger aircraft prototype in 2027."
"Jindouyun" seems to be a liquid-fuelled engine, no?

But on a more practical side, they've launched a lot of Supersonic and hypersonic flying test beds (for CASC, NORINCO, CASIC, CAS, AVIC, Tsinghua and Xiamen Univ...) , 16 in 2022 and Probably 20+ in 2023 looking at that second announcement.

View: https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1615573402504564738

View: https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1710796841556816278
Why vertical landing in particular? Feels like horizontal landing would be a lot easier on the passenger. Especially for civilian passenger.

This company intrigue me, they have tested their hardware so many time yet information about them is a lot less than even other Chinese company.
 
Why vertical landing in particular? Feels like horizontal landing would be a lot easier on the passenger. Especially for civilian passenger.

This company intrigue me, they have tested their hardware so many time yet information about them is a lot less than even other Chinese company.
Fundamentally it is "just" a sounding rocket company, rather large sounding rockets admitedly (at least Terrier-familly size, if not the size of the larger Black Brant), but still that, they seem to have a variety of customers, commercial, academic and military, it's not just all military hypersonic testbed.
1730056702665.png
They have a recoverable (parachute) version of Tianxing that seems roughly comparable to the Stratolaunch Talon-A high supersonic/low-hypersonic testbed, similar mass, size, and speed.
 
Fundamentally it is "just" a sounding rocket company, rather large sounding rockets admitedly (at least Terrier-familly size, if not the size of the larger Black Brant), but still that, they seem to have a variety of customers, commercial, academic and military, it's not just all military hypersonic testbed.
View attachment 745501
They have a recoverable (parachute) version of Tianxing that seems roughly comparable to the Stratolaunch Talon-A high supersonic/low-hypersonic testbed, similar mass, size, and speed.
I mean fare enough for sounding purpose. Just curious that from their video they want to do vertical landing for their civilian transport space plane.
 
Main one: Here's the crew of Shenzhou 19

Cai Xuzhe, 2nd flight after Shenzhou 14, 48 yo
GbBL0XAbsAAq0Cs.jpg
Song Lingdong, 1st flight, former PLAAF pilot, 34 yo
GbBL0YAbUAArm3Y.jpg

Song Lingdong (宋令东), male, Han ethnicity, from Cao County, Shandong Province, with a college degree. Born in August 1990, he joined the military in September 2008. In March 2013, he became a member of the Communist Party of China. Currently, he is a member of the third batch of PLA astronauts, a test pilot, and a middle-ranking Air Force cadre. He served as a company commander in a certain Air Force brigade and was evaluated as a first-level pilot. In September 2020, he was selected for the third batch of Chinese astronauts. After a comprehensive evaluation, he was selected to be part of the flight team of the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft.

Wang Haoze, 1st flight, former CASC AALPT Propulsion engineer, 34 yo
GbBL0XBbQAApADn.jpg
Wang Haoze (王浩泽), female, ethnic Manchu, from Luancheng, Hebei Province, with a master's degree. Born in March 1990, she joined the military in January 2021. In December 2009, she became a member of the Communist Party of China. She is currently a member of the third batch of PLA astronauts, an astronaut and a middle-ranking army cadre. She served as a senior engineer at China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. In September 2020, she was selected for the third batch of Chinese astronauts. After a comprehensive assessment, she was selected to be part of the Shenzhou 19 spacecraft flight team.

Couple notes:
-Song Lingdong was a Su-35 pilot in the relatively well known 6th Aviation brigade of Guangdong, the only chinese brigade to fly su-35.
1730205382370.jpeg
-Wang Haoze is known for her research on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, she is the only woman in the 3rd astronaut group, and the 2nd chinese astronaut of civilian background (do note that they all had to join the army after the selection however)
1730205708868.jpeg

Other important news:
-The 4th astronaut corps (2022) has begun training, they are being specifically trained for lunar missions, there are 10 astronauts in the corps, 8 pilots and 2 payload specialists who are from Hong Kong and Macau respectively.
-Following a call to tender from CMSA, both SAST and CAST have been selected for the preliminary development of a crewed lunar rover, pending further selection, this rover will also be named by the public, here are the concept pictures of SAST's and CAST's rovers:
1730205878774.jpeg
1730205885226.jpeg
-Following a question about the risks of a "Starliner" scenario, CMSA assures that they can quickly launch Shenzhou 20.

-About the manned lunar program, the latest tests are the Mengzhou capsule air drop tests and the Lanyue lunar lander separation tests. The flight plan and scientific payloads for China's first manned lunar landing are "almost finalized." The schedule is "tight." More information will be shared at the upcoming 6th Manned spaceflight conference on 20 november.
-Return of Shenzhou 18 is planned for November 4.
-In 2025, the Chinese manned space program plans to implement three missions: Shenzhou 20, Shenzhou 21 and Tianzhou 9.


And finally some news on the "Chinese COTS/CRS", following selection two proposals have been selected:
-轻舟 Qingzhou of the Innovation Academy for Microsatellite of the CAS, called "a spacecraft"
-昊龙 Haolong of Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (611 institute) of Chengdu Aerospace of AVIC, called "a space shuttle"
Concept picture of Haolong have been unveiled:
1730206428813.jpeg
1730206436122.jpeg
Needless to say Chengdu 611 has vast experience in aerospace, and especially hypersonic flight with their WZ-8 hypersonic rocket plane.

The requirement for the "chinese COTS" are
-A minimum of 1.8t and 7m^3 of cargo mass and pressurized volume to Tiangong (41-42° 340-420 km)
-Launch campaign in less than a month
-Cost of less than 120M Yuan/ton ($16.81/ton, cheaper than what NASA pays for dragon!)
Very ambitious ones

1730206635011.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • 1730206608586.jpeg
    1730206608586.jpeg
    121.3 KB · Views: 1
Last edited:
Main one: Here's the crew of Shenzhou 19

Cai Xuzhe, 2nd flight after Shenzhou 14, 48 yo
View attachment 745668
Song Lingdong, 1st flight, former PLAAF pilot, 34 yo
View attachment 745667



Wang Haoze, 1st flight, former CASC AALPT Propulsion engineer, 34 yo
View attachment 745666


Couple notes:
-Song Lingdong was a Su-35 pilot in the relatively well known 6th Aviation brigade of Guangdong, the only chinese brigade to fly su-35.
View attachment 745669
-Wang Haoze is known for her research on Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, she is the only woman in the 3rd astronaut group, and the 2nd chinese astronaut of civilian background (do note that they all had to join the army after the selection however)
View attachment 745670

Other important news:
-The 4th astronaut corps (2022) has begun training, they are being specifically trained for lunar missions, there are 10 astronauts in the corps, 8 pilots and 2 payload specialists who are from Hong Kong and Macau respectively.
-Following a call to tender from CMSA, both SAST and CAST have been selected for the preliminary development of a crewed lunar rover, pending further selection, this rover will also be named by the public, here are the concept pictures of SAST's and CAST's rovers:
View attachment 745671
View attachment 745672
-Following a question about the risks of a "Starliner" scenario, CMSA assures that they can quickly launch Shenzhou 20.

-About the manned lunar program, the latest tests are the Mengzhou capsule air drop tests and the Lanyue lunar lander separation tests. The flight plan and scientific payloads for China's first manned lunar landing are "almost finalized." The schedule is "tight." More information will be shared at the upcoming 6th Manned spaceflight conference on 20 november.
-Return of Shenzhou 18 is planned for November 4.
-In 2025, the Chinese manned space program plans to implement three missions: Shenzhou 20, Shenzhou 21 and Tianzhou 9.


And finally some news on the "Chinese COTS/CRS", following selection two proposals have been selected:
-轻舟 Qingzhou of the Innovation Academy for Microsatellite of the CAS, called "a spacecraft"
-昊龙 Haolong of Chengdu Aircraft Design Institute (611 institute) of Chengdu Aerospace of AVIC, called "a space shuttle"
Concept picture of Haolong have been unveiled:
View attachment 745673
View attachment 745674
Needless to say Chengdu 611 has vast experience in aerospace, and especially hypersonic flight with their WZ-8 hypersonic rocket plane.

The requirement for the "chinese COTS" are
-A minimum of 1.8t and 47m^3 of cargo mass and pressurized volume to Tiangong (41-42° 340-420 km)
-Launch campaign in less than a month
-Cost of less than 120M Yuan/ton ($16.81/ton, cheaper than what NASA pays for dragon!)
Very ambitious ones

View attachment 745676
AVIC Chengdu is also maker of Chinese fighter Aircraft (like J-20). Interesting to see them in space sector.

Wild idea but I wonder if this may mean CAC might be the one to build China military space plane in the future.
 
A rough size estimation of Haolong gives a fuselage roughly comparable to X-37B, maybe a bit shorter (length/height) and a bit fatter (width), it is likely smaller than Dream Chaser, I expect that the payload volume and mass won't be much above the required minimum of 1.8t/7m^3.

Docking directly from back (where you'd expect thrusters) and a lack of service module is intriguing, I wonder how they make all of this fit.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Please donate to support the forum.

Back
Top Bottom