China’s ‘reusable experimental’ spacecraft returns home

China on Monday announced the return of a “reusable experimental spacecraft” after spending 276 days in “in-orbit operation.”

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) said in a statement the reusable experimental spacecraft “successfully returned” to its scheduled landing site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China.

Part of Dongfeng Aerospace City, the launch center is located in the Gobi Desert of China’s Inner Mongolia.

“The success of the experiment marks an important breakthrough in China’s research on reusable spacecraft technologies, which will provide more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future,” said the CASTC, adding the spacecraft returned to earth after 276 days of in-orbit operation.

Meanwhile, China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said the country's Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft and a Long March-7 Y7 carrier rocket were transferred to the launching area on Sunday.

"The cargo spacecraft will be launched in the near future at an appropriate time," it said.

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The CMSA said China's Tianzhou-5 cargo craft "separated from the orbiting space station combination" last Friday and "switched to independent flight."

Tianzhou-5 ship was "tasked with supporting the Shenzhou-15 crewed space mission."

Beijing launched the cargo ship on Nov. 12, 2022, from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan.

"It was loaded with six months of supplies for three Shenzhou-15 taikonauts, propellant and experiment facilities," said the agency.