Aerospace round-trip, cost reduction, and reusability - the cargo space shuttle "Haolong" is here!
2024-12-02
Recently, at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition held in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, AVIC exhibited the mock up of the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle for the first time, attracting many people's attention. Previously, according to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle program, as one of the winning proposals in the overall scheme solicitation activity for the low-cost cargo transportation system of the Chinese space station, has been awarded the contract for the engineering flight verification phase. What is the meaning behind naming the space shuttle "Haolong"? What is the difference between Tianzhou cargo spacecraft and Tianzhou cargo spacecraft? What are the characteristics and advantages of a space shuttle? Experts from Aviation Industry Corporation of China provided an interpretation. It is reported that the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle is a low-cost winged space station cargo transport vehicle independently designed and developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China. It is launched by a commercial carrier rocket, rendezvous and dock with China's space station, and after completing the ascent and descent of cargo, it can return autonomously without power and land horizontally at a designated airport. The dragon is the totem of the Chinese nation‘ Hao ', in the Book of Songs, Xiaoya, refers to the vastness and boundlessness of the original meaning of' from the sun 'and' from the sky '‘ Haolong "symbolizes the dragon soaring in the east, galloping through nine heavens, boundless in its journey, and bringing blessings to the four seas Fang Yuanpeng, the chief designer of the Haolong cargo space shuttle, said. In terms of the capabilities of an aircraft, its important features are its ability to travel back and forth between air and space, as well as its reusability. The positioning of the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle is to provide low-cost, sustainable, convenient and fast transportation services for China's space station. The aircraft can significantly reduce the total lifecycle usage cost through multiple repeated uses, and combined with its small scale and strong flexibility in mission support, it can achieve low-cost high-frequency launches. In addition, the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle is a winged aircraft with unique wing folding technology. Its super large maneuverability provides it with more opportunities for return under the same conditions, a wider re-entry window, and the ability to horizontally land materials from space and bring them back to the airport runway. With the deepening of the development of the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle, these technological advantages will continuously strengthen China's ability to peacefully enter space, utilize space, and explore space. According to Fang Yuanpeng's analysis, in comparison, China's Tianzhou spacecraft belongs to the category of large cargo transport aircraft, with strong upward loading capacity for cargo. The Haolong cargo space shuttle is smaller in scale, reusable, and has strong up and down cargo capabilities. The two have different characteristics, but both are cargo transport aircraft designed independently by China. In the future, driven by the high-frequency round-trip transportation demand of China's space station, the two types of spacecraft will complement each other and jointly build a flexible, efficient, diverse, and low-cost space station cargo transportation system. It is reported that the aircraft development cycle includes stages such as scheme design, engineering development, and cargo transportation execution. At present, the "Haolong" cargo space shuttle has completed the conceptual design and is undergoing comprehensive engineering development, striving to achieve the first space station cargo transportation mission as soon as possible. On the basis of the development of the 'Haolong' cargo space shuttle, in the future, we will develop a series of low-cost and multi-purpose aircraft, adhere to the scientific research law of 'developing one generation, pre researching one generation', persistently promote core technology research and enhance independent innovation capabilities, constantly explore the breadth and height of space, and contribute more aviation wisdom and strength to serve the national manned spaceflight project and space science development, serve the various application needs of the national economy and people's livelihood Fang Yuanpeng said. (New Society)
Edit：Yao jue Responsible editor：Xie Tunan
Source：People's Daily
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