China Plans to Test Reusable Spacecraft

The test is intended to demonstrate whether the spacecraft can return from an altitude of approximately 100 km and land safely, reports China Daily.

According to Wang Yingchen, Executive Vice President of CAS Space Frontier Labs, the spacecraft's design has been completed, and ground tests of the prototype are proceeding successfully.

CAS Space is independently developing the Lihong 2 with support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The spacecraft, approximately 18 m in length and 3.35 m in diameter, consists of a launch vehicle and a payload module, with a launch mass of about 60 tons.