Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

China’s new-generation piloted spaceship being readied for test flight next month.
Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screen grab

China’s prototype of a new-generation piloted spaceship is scheduled to launch with no crew in mid to late April on the maiden flight of the Long March-5B carrier rocket, a variant of the Long March-5.

The spacecraft is being readied for launch at the Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Province.

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screen grab

The spacecraft is being developed for the operation of China’s space station and future human space exploration missions. It will be larger than China’s current Shenzhou piloted spaceship and is reusable.

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screen grab

With a length of 29 feet (8.8 meters) and a takeoff weight of 21.6 tons, the spaceship will be able to carry six astronauts. It is designed for safety and reliability, and can adapt to multiple tasks, such as carrying a cargo payload over 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) with a crew of three.

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screen grab

Parachutes and airbags

According to China’s Xinhua news agency, the new spacecraft comprises a service capsule and a return capsule. The return capsule is reusable and is expected to be reused around 10 times.

China has developed the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft for its space station, but it cannot return to Earth. The new spacecraft could return with cargoes such as scientific experiments samples and products made in space.

Credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screen grab

An aspect of the upcoming mission is testing the spacecraft’s landing process that utilizes multiple parachutes and airbags.

Take a look at this China Central Television (CCTV) video showing China’s new generation spacecraft at:

https://youtu.be/ucJCeT7l2cc?list=PLpGTA7wMEDFjz0Zx93ifOsi92FwylSAS3