Reducing the cost of spaceflight is a top priority for the industry. SpaceX amazed the world with the success of its reusable rockets (which of course require dozens of extra tests), but there is also the concept of a space plane, or rather a hybrid between an airplane and a rocket with orbital capability. Some of our readers may have heard about the British Skylon project, but now China is joining the development of a space plane. Information is scarce, and it would not be ready before 2030, although a little competition doesn’t sound bad…
Last February we talked about the VSS Unity, a new spacecraft developed by Virgin Galactic for its commercial space tourism program. After several delays and the tragic accident that cost a pilot his life, the project is not only alive but also contributes to the “contagion effect” observed in the space industry. Blue Origin and SpaceX advance with their reusable rockets, a fundamental resource that will allow placing material in orbit at a lower cost. And what if instead of a rocket it were an airplane? Maybe our readers think of the Space Shuttle, but that vehicle needed two boosters and a gigantic fuel tank. When we talk about a “space plane”, the idea is an airplane that works as such during its first flight phase, and in the second phase develops enough speed to achieve a stable orbital insertion. That is what the “China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation” would be working on, the main contractor of the Chinese space program.
The project has just taken its first steps, but the key to a vehicle of these characteristics is the creation of a hybrid engine that combines multiple modes. The first phase is horizontal takeoff with engines in “turbofan mode”, just as we see in any commercial airplane today. Once in the air, the engine switches to “ramjet mode” or “subsonic ramjet”, and when it reaches the ideal speed, it enters supersonic “scramjet mode”. The last “push”, so to speak, would be left to “rocket engines”. According to Zhang Yong, one of the engineers working at CASTC, developing this technology will take China “between three and five years”, and the definitive design would arrive in the year 2030.
The timelines are very ambitious, perhaps too much, but China already has part of the necessary infrastructure (its JF-12 hypersonic wind tunnel is a good example). The challenge is gigantic, however, the Chinese project will not be alone. The Skylon program of the United Kingdom also aims for unmanned tests in the year 2025, and I must say that the theory behind its SABRE engines is impressive. Space tourism, military applications, and even the commercial aviation industry itself would be turned upside down if both projects manage to complete. We will be waiting.
