China's Haolong space cargo shuttle, which will be unveiled at the upcoming 15th China Air Show, highlights outstanding reusability, which will significantly reduce the cost of cargo transport mission in space.
The space shuttle, developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), was among the winning projects of China's development plans for low-cost cargo spacecraft and manned lunar rover.
It has been awarded a contract for the engineering flight verification phase, and will be officially unveiled at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which will be held in south China's Zhuhai City from Nov. 12 to 17.
The developers said that Haolong can re-enter the atmosphere and land horizontally, realizing reuse in a flight-like manner, which will greatly reduce the cost of cargo transport mission in space.
The Haolong space cargo shuttle is a large-winged spacecraft. It will be sent into the space station's orbit by a carrier rocket. After entering orbit, it will unfold its wings immediately, approach the space station, and conduct rendezvous and docking through orbital maneuvering strategies such as long-range autonomous guidance and short-range autonomous control.
"During the docking period, the cargo hold of Haolong will be opened and connected to the space station cabin, and astronauts can enter and exit the cargo hold freely to fetch the cargo brought to the space station or place the materials to be sent to earth according to their needs. After completing the cargo transport mission, Haolong will separate from the space station, autonomously deorbit and brake, re-enter the atmosphere, and land horizontally on the designated airport runway without power with due energy management. After inspection, maintenance and repair, it will be able to perform cargo transport missions again," said Fang Yuanpeng, chief designer of Haolong space cargo shuttle.
At present, the design scheme of the space shuttle has been completed, and the project has entered the stage of full-scale engineering research and development.
"We applied the latest technological achievements to Haolong, giving new vitality to the space shuttle. Haolong has strong maneuverability, giving it more chances and a wider window for returning safely. At the same time, we have better flight mechanics environment today, and landing on the airport runway facilitates the rapid intervention of ground support resources, making the space shuttle safer, more reliable and more convenient for the mission," Fang said.
China's space cargo shuttle highlights reusablity, cost-saving
