Recently, at China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, a Long March-2F carrier rocket successfully launched a reusable test spacecraft, sparking speculation that it could be an unmanned space shuttle. After four days of flight, the spacecraft released six payloads, each emitting a regular radio signal, indicating that it was conducting difficult tests. China's space shuttle program has been kept secret since its launch, and as early as August 2022, China's space authorities announced that it had conducted a flight test of a reusable spacecraft, and although the details of the test were not announced, China has been engaged in scientific research in this area, demonstrating its openness and transparency. A reusable spacecraft can actually be considered a kind of conceptual space shuttle. At present, neither the American X37B nor the Chinese reusable spacecraft are considered for manned flights. This is because this type of spacecraft has some problems with safety performance, and it is difficult to carry astronauts in and out of space and the atmosphere frequently.
However, apart from this, they are able to accomplish tasks that are broadly similar to those of the previous Space Shuttles, including carrying some experimental satellites into space and recovering them if necessary. The reason why China's reusable spacecraft is eye-catching this time is that it has deployed six small satellites at one time, which has exceeded the expectations of the United States and its international counterparts. Although the technology of launching multiple satellites with one rocket is quite mature, it is still very difficult to put six satellites into predetermined orbits. It is even more difficult to use the Space Shuttle for automated deployment. The American space shuttle X37B is equipped with a manipulator for the release of satellites and payloads, as well as for some space experiments. China has deployed manipulators on the space station, which can be used for module displacement and space experiments. In addition, if the space shuttle were able to clip satellites out of the cargo hold and put them into orbit, this would undoubtedly be considered black technology. The process of retrieving the satellite is even more exciting. The shuttle needs to chase a previously released satellite in orbit and use a manipulator to grab it back into the cargo compartment when it gets closer. This is of great significance.
At present, there are still many immature and underdeveloped places in human space technology, and one of the biggest difficulties is that once a satellite is sent into space, it is impossible to directly observe the impact of the space environment on it. It can only be analyzed and inferred with limited telemetry signals. If you can bring the satellite back to Earth intact, you can understand what it has been through in space. This is of great significance for the improvement of satellite materials, design, and processes. Although the manned space station can also perform similar tasks, the scientific and engineering test projects that the space station can accommodate are limited after all, and cannot fully meet the needs of engineering tests. There are also astronauts from several countries on the ISS, and some special technologies involving military use are not possible to be studied on the space station. Therefore, the reuse of spacecraft can create more and richer test opportunities for a country's space technology and play a greater role in promoting it. The more frequent the flight and the more complex the experiment, the more obvious the effect of the technical push. China has released six small satellites at one time, which will carry out a large number of technical test projects with fruitful results.
If the follow-up is successful**, the United States will of course be worried, after all, if China's space shuttle can capture the American satellite, it will cause a lot of concern. When the U.S. X37B spaceplane was first proposed, it was planned to be used as a space combat aircraft, with tasks including capturing, sabotaging or jamming satellites of other countries. However, as China conducted anti-satellite tests, the United States realized that such an idea would not work. Capturing or destroying the satellites of other countries will be considered as deliberately provoking a conflict in outer space, and the aggrieved country has the right to use all means to counter or stop it, including the use of anti-satellite missiles to destroy X37B. Therefore, the United States quickly abandoned this idea, limiting the use of X37B to the field of space technology testing. However, the United States did not expect that other countries would soon also create X37B-like vehicles and play a role in space technology test missions like the United States, with strong potential for military applications. According to US plans, the X37B will make its next flight on December 28.
Therefore, it can be said that in the field of space technology testing, there is a fierce technological competition between China and the United States, and at present, there are almost no competitors in this field except for China and the United States. The competition demonstrates the leadership of China and the United States in space technology and reflects the complexity and sensitivity of space operations. This also suggests that the international community needs to maintain a high degree of vigilance against the space arms race in order to prevent the space arms race from escalating into a substantive conflict.