This test was the first for this series of missiles this year
Beijing. January 23. INTERFAX - China has conducted the tenth successful test of the Tianxing-1 launch vehicle, which will become a prototype of the future space transport vehicle, according to a statement from the developer company Space Transportation.
"At 12:10 Beijing time (7:10 Moscow time) Space Transportation successfully carried out the first test flight this year from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome launch Center, this flight was the 10th for the Tianxing series of rockets," the company said in a statement.
The Tianxing series of launch vehicles is being developed with the aim of creating hypersonic aircraft for mobile transportation of passengers and payloads in the future, as well as testing innovative aerospace technologies.
According to the company, Space Transportation intends to conduct verification launches from 2019 to 2022, during which key technologies for global hypersonic flights in the future will be tested.
In 2019, Xiamen University announced two joint verification flights with Space Transportation of a 9-meter prototype spacecraft equipped with wings, developed on the basis of the Tianxing, capable of reaching a speed of about 4,300 km/h and reaching a maximum altitude of about 26.2 km above the Earth.
In 2020, the company announced the testing of an engine for a new improved model of this series - the Tianxing-2, which will be more mobile for maneuvering at high speeds and will be able to carry a more diversified payload, while creating a rocket will cost less than the previous model.
The first space shuttle prototype mission based on Tianxing-1 and Tianxing-2 for suborbital space tourism is planned for 2023, and the first test flight of a full-fledged spacecraft is planned in 2025.