Tech

Space plane for tourists in the works by China

Published

8 years ago

October 4, 2016

Space plane for tourists in the works by China

Getting to space takes a rocket, sometimes carried by an airplane, like Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, which blasts off from the underbelly of its White Knight Two transport–or it takes a rocket launch from a platform on the ground.

A state-backed firm in China wants to get rid of all the extra parts, instead completing the entire process with one rocket-powered spaceplane that takes off like a rocket, and returns to earth like a shuttle.

According China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology team leader Han Pengxin; “The vehicle will take off vertically like a rocket and land on the runway automatically without any ground or on-board intervention.”

Continuing, Hans said the space plane; “Will burn liquid methane and liquid oxygen.

Han’s team has designed two versions of their rocket plane. The first has a mass of 10 tonnes and a wingspan of 6 metres.

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“This one, he says, should be able to fly five people to an altitude of 100 kilometres – where space officially begins – at speeds up to Mach 6, giving 2 minutes of weightlessness. But a scaled up 100-tonne version, with a 12-metre wingspan, could fly 20 people to 130 kilometres at Mach 8, giving 4 minutes of weightlessness.

“That larger spacecraft is fast enough to help deliver small satellites into orbit, with the help of a small rocket stage add-on that would sit on top of the vehicle. And that payload-carrying capability will reduce tourist ticket prices,” says Han.

The flights will, according to Han, cost around $200,000 to $250,000, a price point roughly identical to Virgin Galactic’s similar space tourism offering, with about the same time in space.

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