A Chinese spacecraft that has been in orbit for 276 days returned to Earth on Monday.
The purpose behind the mission was for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to test its reusable space technologies, opting for less expensive and more accessible space travel for future voyages, as reported by Reuters.
The spacecraft was unmanned and launched in August of last year, but other details of the spacecraft’s voyage have not been disclosed to the public — not even photos of the spacecraft. It is unknown what technologies were tested, where the orbit took the spacecraft, or how high it flew.
Commentators on social media think that the spacecraft launched was the Chinese government’s attempt to recreate the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B. The autonomous spaceplane just completed its sixth space mission last November after being in orbit for 900 days.
In 2021, a Chinese spacecraft launched into space and returned the same day. It had landed horizontally — resembling that of spacecraft found in fictional movies like Star Wars — according to a Chinese space contractor.
While Elon Musk has declared his plans to colonize Mars, the Chinese may be one step closer than the SpaceX founder. In late April, Breitbart reported that the China National Space Administration released a global map of Mars with 22 of the planet’s geographic regions named after Chinese towns and villages. The map was created from 14,000 images taken by the Tianwen-1 orbiter.
This image made available by the China National Space Administration on Thursday, March 4, 2021, shows a high-resolution photo of the surface of Mars taken by China’s Tianwen-1 probe as it orbits the planet in preparation for landing. China says a cohort of astronauts have been selected and are in training to carry out four crewed missions this year as the country works to complete its first permanent orbiting space station. (CNSA via AP)
The communist nation is also the only nation in the process of creating its lone space station, which is expected to be completed by 2037, as reported by Wired.
China’s rising dominance in space exploration has prompted the attention and potential collaboration of the European Space Agency as well as the endorsement of former U.S. astronaut Donald Thomas, who has urged Americans to collaborate with the CCP in space exploration.
In April, John Plumb, assistant secretary of defense, testified before the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee about the growing concern over China’s space endeavors into American security.
“China has already fielded ground-based counterspace weapons and it continues to seek new methods to hold U.S. satellites at risk, “ Plumb said. “China is building a space architecture that enables its military to execute long-range precision strikes”
“China ultimately seeks to challenge our ability to conduct joint operations in the Indo-Pacific.”
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