China conducts successful test of reusable suborbital vehicle

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Friday successfully conducted a test flight of an indigenously-built lift-type suborbital vehicle, the developer said.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said in a statement that after a maintenance check and inspection, the vehicle was "vertically" launched for the test flight from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

“It completed the suborbital flight according to the set procedure, and landed smoothly and horizontally” at the Right Banner airport in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the statement said.

The CASC described the successful test as a “great step forward of China’s development in reusable space transportation technologies.”

These reusable vehicles can carry payloads up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the earth’s surface, including satellites, according to Chinese aerospace experts.