A Long March-5B Y3 rocket, carrying the Wentian lab module for China's space station under construction, takes off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan province, China July 24, 2022. China Daily via REUTERS
China successfully launched a pilot reusable spacecraft with its Long March-2F carrier rocket on Friday, state media CCTV reported.
The unidentified spacecraft, which was launched from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, will return to a planned landing site after operating in the orbit for some time to provide technical validations for reuses, CCTV said.
China said it made a big step towards developing reusable space transportation technology as it launched a spacecraft which returned to Earth on the same day after flying to the edge of the atmosphere in July.