Mysterious Chinese Spacecraft Successfully Landing On Earth, Completes 276 Days Mission In Orbit

Illustration of photos of the X-37B spacecraft (photo: dock. Boeing)

JAKARTA - After living in orbit for 276 days, China's experimental spacecraft finally landed on Earth safely. This success indicates that the country can test reusable technology.

According to Chinese state media CGTN and spacecraft maker China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the reusable vehicle completed its second secret mission that lasted longer than its first flight.

Neither the image, landing time, nor the complete details of the mission were disclosed by the Bamboo Curtain country. However, this project will provide a more convenient and inexpensive way to access space for peaceful use of space in the future.

The reusable spacecraft was released from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on August 4 last year.

And landed yesterday in the same place, as a secret payload aboard the Long March 2F-carrying rocket, which can carry more than 8 tonnes into low Earth orbit.

The first launch of the spacecraft occurred in 2020, when it lived in orbit just two days before landing back on Earth.

The flight made the spacecraft orbit for four days in an orbit 331 times 347 kilometers with a slope of 50 degrees.

The mission, which had just been completed, lasted for 276 days, with the spacecraft entering an early orbit 346 times 593 kilometers with a slope of 50 degrees, then circulating the orbit to 597 times 608 kilometers, as quoted by SpaceNews, Tuesday, May 9.