China has unveiled the design for its new recyclable space shuttle , congeal to ferry cargo between Earth and the country ’s Tiangong Space Station .
While we get a line a lot about the International Space Station ( ISS ) , it ’s not the only science laboratory orbiting our major planet . China control the smaller Tiangong Space Station , which launch itscore faculty in 2021and now offer a lasting alkali for a crew of up to six cosmonaut .
Currently boasting three modules , the Chinese Space Agency plans to dilate the outer space station to six modules in the coming geezerhood . The space place , as you might anticipate given the deficiency of farm and manufacturing equipment in outer space , need regular resupplies in edict to keep it functioning and the gang " alive " . For this purpose , and to bring experiments and other equipment back to Earth , China has commissioned a Modern reusable space birdie .
The design , and a small prototype , of the Haolong Cargo Space Shuttle have now been revealed in a television from China Central Television .
presently , the space agency uses the non - reclaimable Tianzhou cargo spacecraft – designed to burn off up on re - entry and point into the Pacific Ocean – and the Shenzhou spacecraft for taking crowd and a limited amount of supplying to and from the space station . The raw Haolong cargo spaceship , appraise 10 meters ( 32.8 feet ) long will weighless than halfof its herald , saving on cost as well as being more friendly to the environs than the single - use exemplar .
The programme is for the spacecraft to dock with the space station , and have the astronauts discharge and reload it before it return to Earth uncrewed .
" The Haolong space cargo shuttlecock is a winged aircraft with an aerodynamic purpose sport a large wingspread and a high face lifting - to - drag proportion , " Fang Yuanpeng , chief designer of Haolong , explain in thevideounveiling the new wiliness . " With a blunt - nosed fuselage and large , swept - back delta wings , it combines the characteristics of both space vehicle and aircraft , allowing it to be launched into orbit by a carrier rocket and land on an airport runway like a plane . "
As well as raw modules for the space station , the space agency is planning to create a new place telescope that can dock with Tiangong formaintenanceand further work .
