science

Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft

Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft rather than just read about it. In short: The Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft (Chinese: 可重复使用试验航天器; pinyin: Kěchóngfùshǐyòng shìyàn hángtiānqì, CSSHQ) is the first reusable spacecraft produced by China. It embarked upon its initial orbital mission on 4 September 2020.

Key takeaways

Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft (Chinese: 可重复使用试验航天器; pinyin: Kěchóngfùshǐyòng shìyàn hángtiānqì, CSSHQ) is the first reusable spacecraft produced by China. It embarked upon its initial orbital mission on 4 September 2020. According to media reports, the spacecraft is launched into Earth orbit in a vertical configuration while enclosed within the payload fairing of a rocket like a traditional satellite, but it returns to Earth via autonomous runway landing. In the absence of any official descriptions of the spacecraft or photographic depictions thereof, some observers have speculated that the spacecraft may resemble the X-37B spaceplane of the United States in both form and function. Another reusable robotic spaceplane, Shenlong (simplified Chinese: 神龙; traditional Chinese: 神龍; pinyin: shén lóng; lit. 'divine dragon'), is currently in development. Only a few pictures have appeared in publications since it was revealed in late 2007.

Operational history The state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported in 2017 that China planned to launch a reusable spacecraft in 2020 designed to "fly into the sky like an aircraft".

Mission 1 The spacecraft's first mission began on 4 September 2020 at 07:30 UTC when it was launched into low earth orbit via a Long March-2F/T3 carrier rocket; the launch occurred at China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, located in the Gobi Desert. According to the Xinhua News Agency, "(a)fter a period of in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will return to the scheduled landing site in China. It will test reusable technologies during its flight, providing technological support for the peaceful use of space". For launching payloads like the spaceplane, the Long March 2F/G needs four cusps added to its fairing to accommodate the payload (as seen post-launch), which led to speculation that the spacecraft resembles the US' Boeing X37-B. Unofficial reports indicate that the spacecraft is part of the Shenlong spaceplane, which is claimed to be similar to the Boeing X-37B. On 6 September 2020, two days after the launch, the spacecraft successfully returned to the Earth. According to observers Marco Langbroek and Jonathan McDowell, the spacecraft's landing site was an airbase located at Lop Nur, China. On 7 September 2020, commercial satellite reconnaissance company Planet Labs published a satellite photo of a 3.1-mile (5.0 km) runway at Lop Nur, taken shortly after the landing of the spaceplane. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics speculated that one of the dots visible on the image of the runway was the Chinese spaceplane. On 8 September 2020, Spaceflight Now reported that US analysts had detected the launch at 7:30 GMT on the fourth of September and that the craft's orbital axes were 332 kilometres (206 mi) by 348 kilometres (216 mi), and inclined by 50.2 degrees with respect to the equator.

Mission 2 On 4 August 2022 at around 16:00 UTC, the spacecraft was launched for a second time, again on top of a Long March 2F rocket. The spacecraft was observed to have raised its orbit on 25 August 2022 to a near-circular 597 by 608-kilometre orbit. While aloft it deployed at least one object that may have been a small satellite or monitoring craft. On 8 May 2023, the spacecraft returned to Earth after 276 days in orbit.

Mission 3 On 14 December 2023 at around 14:12 UTC, the spacecraft was launched for a third time, again on top of a Long March 2F rocket. It has released at least seven objects into orbit. On 6 September 2024, 01:10 UTC, the spacecraft returned to Earth after 266 days and 10 hours in orbit. The spaceplane was photographed in orbit, from the ground, by an amateur space photographer.

Mission 4 The reusable spaceplane was launched for the fourth time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near 3:57 UTC on 7 February 2026.

List of missions

Specifications The only information available about the program is the photos taken from the ground by an amateur in late July 2024, revealing structures similar to solar panels or antennas. The payload fairings used, having been photographed after their fall to the ground, showed extensions that could house wings and help constrain the size and wingspan of the craft. Without a clear link being established between these two projects, in 2020, Chen Hongbo, of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the main contractor for China's space agency, said during a 2017 interview that China's space plane would be able to be re-used up to 20 times. Chen said the vehicle's first stage would use a scramjet engine.

History Images of an aerodynamic scaled model, ready to be launched from under the fuselage of a Xian H-6 bomber, were first published on 11 December 2007. Code named Program 863-706, the Chinese name of this spacecraft was revealed as "Shenlong Spaceplane" (神龙空天飞机). These images, possibly taken in late 2005, show the vehicle's black reentry heat shielding, indicating a reusable design, and its engine assembly. The first sub-orbital flight of the Shenlong reportedly took place on 8 January 2011. Earlier, images of the High-enthalpy Shock Waves Laboratory wind tunnel of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) State Key Laboratory of High-Temperature Gas Dynamics (LHD) were published in the Chinese media. Tests with speeds up to Mach 20 were reached in around 2001.

See also Boeing X-37 – American reusable spacecraft Shenlong

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft

In research: Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Individual spacecraft, Reusable spacecraft, Secret space vehicles, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft in simple terms?

Why does Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Chinese reusable experimental spacecraft.