SPACE — China and the United States (US) both scheduled the launch of a mysterious military spacecraft into space earlier this week. But for some reason, the US postponed the launch at the last second.
China’s Long March 2F rocket flew China’s experimental spacecraft from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Thursday, December 14, 2023, yesterday. It is claimed that the mysterious aircraft will carry out space science experiments.
“And provide technical support for the peaceful use of space,” wrote the Xinhua news site.
The launch came just seven months after the plane’s last mission. The schedule is faster than the completion time of the previous mission. According to Space News, China previously needed 23 months to prepare for the next flight.
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Hours before the launch of the secret spacecraft, the well-known US space company, SpaceX withdrew from plans for the 7th launch of the US Space Force’s X-37B spacecraft. In fact, it is clear that SpaceX immediately moved the Falcon Heavy rocket containing the X-37B from the Kennedy Space Center launch pad.
The USSF-52 mission was removed on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, which was claimed to be for additional system checks. The exact reason for the delay is still unknown, and a new launch date has not been set.
Just like the X-37B, little is known about the Chinese spacecraft. It is a sub-division of Shenlong, or Divine Dragon. However, from the little information available to the public, the spacecraft was used to test new payloads and orbital operations.
The Divine Dragon was launched vertically on a rocket, then carried out its mission, and then landed horizontally on the runway. Similar to NASA’s space shuttle.
According to General Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force,
The proximity of the launch times of the two aircraft is not a coincidence. Speaking at the Space Force Association’s Spacepower Conference this week, Saltzman said China and the US are both very interested in their respective spacecraft.
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“The ability to put something in orbit, do some things, and bring it home and see the results is very powerful,” Saltzman was quoted as saying by Air and Space Forces Magazine.
“So these were the two most observed objects in orbit while they were there. It’s probably not a coincidence that they (China) are trying to match us in terms of (launch) timing and sequence.”
The final flight of the Chinese robotic spacecraft lasted 276 days. The US claims to have witnessed the craft ejecting an unidentified object into orbit.
2023-12-15 12:04:00
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