According to Chinese official media, an innovative Chinese spaceship returned to Earth on Monday after spending 276 days in orbit, completing a historic mission to test the nation's reusable space technologies.
According to state media, as planned, the uncrewed spacecraft returned from the Jiuquan launch facility in northwest China on Monday.
No information was provided about the spacecraft, what technologies were tested, how high it went, or where its orbits carried it after its launch in early August 2022. Images of the craft have yet to be made available.
According to official media, the test represents an "important" achievement in China's development of reusable spacecraft technology, which will give a more convenient and cost-effective approach to launching future space missions.
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In 2021, a similar spacecraft travelled to the edge of orbit and returned to Earth on the same day in an expedition that was likewise entirely classified. It landed "horizontally," said China's leading space operator then.
Commentators on Chinese social media suggested that Beijing is working on a spacecraft similar to the United States Air Force's X-37B. This autonomous spaceplane can stay in orbit for years.
