Talk:China's spaceplane program

Project 921

Project 921 has seven sub-systems. Project 921-3 is Manned spacecraft. In 1988 (before Project 921), Project 863-204 considered proposals for a Chinese space transportation system. They narrowed the choices to a ballistic capsule modeled after the Soviet Soyuz, and the ChangCheng 1 space shuttle. Two years later, the ballistic capsule approach was given preference to the space shuttle approach. This decision was driven by technological considerations, cost, and support for the ballistic approach by Quian Xuesen, father of the Chinese space program.

No consideration to a space shuttle has been given since 1990.

See http://www.worldspaceflight.com/china/ and http://www.sinodefence.com/strategic/mannedspace/project921.asp.

--65.78.77.86 (talk) 02:22, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Also, of the references given, the first is a link to a page that hasn't been maintained since 1991. The last two are broken links. --65.78.77.86 (talk) 02:28, 17 November 2007 (UTC)

Project 921-3

The Shenlong space plane appears to be a completely separate project from 921-3, based on design and given that it is termed "Project 863-706"...is this correct? The original space plane concept on which that article is based appears to have been abandoned in favour of the Soyuz-based capsule system. If this is the case, I would suggest that a new article should be created regarding this new space plane concept (which I can take care of, pending your feedback).— Huntster (t • @ • c) 12:01, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, just like the 921-1 manned program which was a rescusitated continuation of several previously cancelled projects (714, 863), the Project 863-706 seems to designate what should become the first Chinese reusable spacecraft.

Therefore, rather than creating a totally new seperate article for the Shenlong space plane, it should be more appropriate to emphasise that the Shenlong as described in the Chinese media is the lattest and probably the more promising reincarnation of the Chinese reusable spacecraft. Descriptions in the media like illustrations could be obviously somewhat misleading (take example of the Chang'e 2 lunar probe -still erroneous and not corrected in wikipedia-, EVA spacesuit or even astronaut names). Some sources even suggest that this spacecraft could be used as a military platform such as a hypersonic strategic "space bomber"!!!—218.89.140.51 (talk) 13:30, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Okay, that makes sense. Why not, then, transform this article from one focused on 921-3 to one titled "Chinese space shuttle" (rather than space plane, which usually indicates a powered platform, rather than a glider like the U.S. shuttle; "shuttle" also evokes the idea of reusable for the same reason), that can deal with any/all iterations of this general project?

I am, as always, concerned about misleading or inaccurate material in the sources we use, and given the secretive nature of this project (and most Chinese projects, for that matter), I do worry that by presenting too detailed an article, unnecessarily erroneous information may be passed on. I would suggest that we limit the totally speculative material from entering the article. Anyway, thanks again for your work here...and hey, if you find problems with Chang'e (which I'm entirely unfamiliar with), leave a talk page note regarding the problematic text or put a {{fact}} tag next to the problematic info if it isn't sourced. — Huntster (t • @ • c) 18:03, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Engine of Shenlong

"It has been proposed that the vehicle is fitted with a Russian-designed D-30K turbofan engine"--It is ridiculous to use a big turbofan engine for a space plane. I guess the editor misinterpret the information. It is the carrier plane H-6K that uses two Russian made D-30K engines.Sinolonghai (talk) 22:43, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

You know, when copyediting that piece originally, I thought that was incredibly odd, but given that I cannot read the language and had to rely on less-than-accurate translation, I decided to keep it in. If you can change that to something more accurate while staying within what the cited article says, please do so. — Huntster (t • @ • c) 04:23, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Template:Spaceplanes

This template has been used only for assistance with other templates (via Template:Spaceflight navboxes) so far. There are no direct use in articles except spaceplanes. See what links here ( namespace=articles ).--Gwano (talk) 01:19, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Photograph and...flight?

Reportedly, a test flight has been flown... - The Bushranger (talk) 14:32, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

So, are any of the images from here [1] usable under fair use? -- 70.24.186.245 (talk) 14:01, 10 November 2012 (UTC)

I would suggest not. Unless it is 100% certain that no freely licensed image could ever be obtained (aka if the vehicle was destroyed and no more will be produced), fair use is not an option. — Huntster (t @ c) 06:59, 11 November 2012 (UTC)

External links modified

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August 2022 launch? (and earlier 2020 launch)

Is the spacecraft launched in August 2022, the Chinese Reusable Experimental Spacecraft,[2][3][4][5] one of the ones currently listed on this page? -- 64.229.88.43 (talk) 04:55, 20 August 2022 (UTC)