China's next-generation space capsule aces orbital maneuvers during test flight
Source: Space.com
By Tariq Malik, 2 hours ago
The uncrewed space capsule launched on China's first Long March 5B rocket Tuesday (May 5). The rocket is an upgraded version of China's heavy-lift Long March 5 and will be used to launch modules for China's planned space station, officials with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have said. As of Thursday (May 7), the new space capsule had completed six of seven maneuvers to adjust its orbit, according to state media reports.
"So far, our spacecraft has been in very good condition," Dang Rong, a member of the mission's flight control expert group at the China Academy of Space Technology, said in a CCTV video. "Later, we are actually looking at the test of the return technology."
The solar-powered space capsule, which apparently does not yet have an official name, is the successor to China's Shenzhou space capsule, which has launched all six of the country's crewed spaceflights. Those missions began with the launch of astronaut Yang Liwei on the Shenzhou 5 in October 2003 and culminated with the October 2016 launch of two astronauts on the Shenzhou 11 flight to the country's Tiangong-2 space laboratory. Tiangong-2 fell to Earth in 2019 in a planned deorbit maneuver that dumped the spacecraft into the Pacific Ocean.
China's new crew capsule is expected to be the country's go-to spacecraft for future astronaut flights to a planned space station, and could eventually make deep-space missions to the moon. The spacecraft can carry up to seven astronauts and has been likened to a "space bus" with reusable "multi-mission" components, according to a translated description from the China Academy of Space Technology.
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As a space nerd, I applaud this. But let's not forget that China is quickly and steadily advancing its program because it's a totalitarian country, with the ruling Communist Party not having to worry about public opinion over funding, and the engineers not having to worry about a change of administration resulting in the cancellation of the previous regimes's plan.
But I still applaud it. I just wish it were
us advancing the boundaries of human spaceflight. Sadly, we abandoned that lofty position long ago, and I cannot bring myself to root against those still pursuing this goal.
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