At about 9 o'clock on December 29, Beijing time, the Falcon Heavy rocket of the US SpaceX was ignited and launched late at night, sending the US Space Force's space plane X-37B into a high elliptical orbit. And just two weeks ago, our country launched a top-secret aerospace aircraft into low-earth orbit. So, what is the purpose of the United States following China in launching an aerospace plane?Can the Chinese aerospace aircraft fly into high orbit like the X-37B?
Unlike ordinary spacecraft that can only be used once, aerospace aircraft can go in and out of space multiple times and have the characteristics of repeated use. Theoretically, an aerospace aircraft can take off horizontally on the runway on its own and accelerate to increase speed and altitude until it exits the atmosphere and enters orbit. After the mission, the aircraft can autonomously withdraw from orbit and re-enter the atmosphere, landing horizontally on the runway like a normal fixed-wing aircraft.
However, at this stage, subject to the influence of engine performance, China and the United States both use carrier rockets to launch aerospace aircraft vertically, China uses the Long March-2F rocket (the same rocket as the rocket that launched the Shenzhou manned spacecraft), and the United States has used the Cosmos 5 and Falcon launch vehicles. Although they cannot take off horizontally, both types of aerospace aircraft can land horizontally.
For every move of the X-37B, the United States has always maintained a high degree of secrecy. SpaceX was supposed to broadcast the entire launch from launch to orbit, but the U.S. Space Force asked SpaceX to shut down the live launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket before the X-37B was in orbit.
The U.S. Space Force has been secretive about the X-37B's capabilities, payloads, and missions. Judging by the available data, the American aerospace aircraft is unmanned and has a fuselage length of about 89 meters, with a wingspan of about 45 meters, the maximum take-off weight is almost 5 tons.
According to the plan, the US Space Force will launch an aerospace plane the day before China. However, due to weather conditions and technical problems with the Falcon Heavy rocket, the launch of the X-37B was repeatedly postponed. But the close proximity of the scheduled launch intervals between the Chinese and American aerospace aircraft has inevitably led to some speculation.
Saltzman, commander of space operations in the U.S. Space Force, said it may not be a coincidence that the launch times of China and the United States are so close to each other. Both China and the United States are highly interested in each other's aerospace aircraft, and the two aerospace planes are the two spacecraft that have attracted the most attention in orbit.
Over the past decade, the U.S. Space Force has built two X-37Bs and launched seven aerospace planes, the first six of which were in orbit for hundreds of days each time. The mission, the fourth of the second U.S. space plane, is expected to be longer, potentially more than three years.
The U.S. Space Force revealed that the X-37B mission will enter new orbital conditions, test future space domain perception technologies, expand the U.S. Space Force's understanding of the space environment, and study the effects of space radiation on test materials provided by NASA.
For the first time, the X-37B was launched using the Falcon Heavy rocket, which is currently the world's most powerful rocket with a payload of up to 63 in low Earth orbit8 tons, the payload in geosynchronous transfer orbit can reach 267 tons.
Using such a high-capacity rocket to launch an X-37B weighing only 5 tons means that the X-37B will likely be sent into high orbit for operation. Analysts speculate that this orbit should be a highly elliptical, high-inclination orbit, much higher than the orbital height of previous missions.
Analysts note that with the carrying capacity of the Falcon Heavy rocket, it is possible that the X-37B will be sent directly into the 3In a geosynchronous orbit at an altitude of 50,000 kilometers, with the possibility of even flying near the moon, the US Space Force is showing more and more interest in the space zone near the moon.
So, can a Chinese aerospace aircraft fly into such a high orbit?
China has launched three reusable test spacecraft, which is generally considered to be an aerospace aircraft. The launch vehicle used for the launch was the Long 2F, and its T version had a payload of 8 in low Earth orbit6 tons, and the Chinese aerospace aircraft is estimated to weigh several tons, so it can't reach that high orbit. According to the tracking data of the US Space Force, China's aerospace aircraft are currently operating in a near-circular orbit at an altitude of 340 kilometers.
However, China also has a heavy launch vehicle like the Long March 5, which can put 8The 2-ton Chang'e-5 was sent to the moon, so if the Long March 5 were to be launched, it would be able to send the space plane into a high orbit close to the moon.
In addition, during the last test of an aerospace aircraft, our country has already demonstrated a high degree of maneuverability, which can quickly change the flight trajectory, making it difficult to track. At that time, tracking data from the U.S. Space Force showed that there were two companion aircraft near our aerospace plane, but then they suddenly disappeared. Moreover, China's aerospace aircraft can also achieve flexible orbit changes, which can greatly lift the orbit altitude by hundreds of kilometers, and then return to the original orbit.
Imagine that with this powerful orbit change capability, combined with a robotic arm, the aerospace plane could enter the orbit of other artificial satellites, repair and upgrade them in orbit, or drag the useless satellite out of orbit and let it return to the atmosphere to burn up. These technologies have laid a solid foundation for China's peaceful use of space.
As for whether the American X-37B is spying on Chinese aerospace aircraft, it is unrealistic at the moment. First, there is a big difference in the orbits between the two, and second, the Chinese aerospace aircraft are highly maneuverable and difficult to find.
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