China Is Developing A Large Space Plane For Tourists
The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology has recently revealed that it is in the process of developing a large space plane that can hold as many as 20 passengers or more at a time.
The pursuit of private space flight has accelerated in recent years with Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin attempting to develop viable travel methods for passengers.
China has joined in on the race, with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology recently revealing details about its own space plane project to the International Astronautical Congress.
New Scientist reports that the group’s general concept involves a one-piece craft designed to carry as many as 20 passengers at a time with the potential for scaling up the capacity.
Han Pengxin, one of the researchers, is quoted as saying during the presentation, “The test flights will be finished in the next two years, because almost all of the ground tests have been finished and all the subsystems of the test vehicle worked very well.”
The team estimates that payload launches could happen as early as the year 2020, and, once the craft is determined safe, passenger flights could be available for $200,000 to $250,000 per seat.
The pursuit of private space flight has accelerated in recent years with Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin attempting to develop viable travel methods for passengers.
China has joined in on the race, with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology recently revealing details about its own space plane project to the International Astronautical Congress.
New Scientist reports that the group’s general concept involves a one-piece craft designed to carry as many as 20 passengers at a time with the potential for scaling up the capacity.
Han Pengxin, one of the researchers, is quoted as saying during the presentation, “The test flights will be finished in the next two years, because almost all of the ground tests have been finished and all the subsystems of the test vehicle worked very well.”
The team estimates that payload launches could happen as early as the year 2020, and, once the craft is determined safe, passenger flights could be available for $200,000 to $250,000 per seat.