--- title: "China Says It’ll Fly Astronauts to Orbit in New Spaceplane" description: "Reusable Spaceplane The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a massive state-owned company, just laid our its five year plan to commercialize space, SpaceNews reports. “In the next five years CASIC will improve the capability of the commercial aerospace system, shorten the preparation time for and enhance the frequency of commercial rocket launches, and […]" date: "2020-10-20" modified: "2020-10-20" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-astronauts-orbit-new-spaceplane" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "china" - "Spaceplane" - "the digest" --- # China Says It’ll Fly Astronauts to Orbit in New Spaceplane ![The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation just laid our its five year plan to commercialize space, including plans for a spaceplane.]() *\Image: Xinhua/Yang Xiaobo\* ## Reusable Spaceplane The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC), a massive state-owned company, just laid our its five year plan to commercialize space, [*SpaceNews* reports](). "In the next five years CASIC will improve the capability of the commercial aerospace system, shorten the preparation time for and enhance the frequency of commercial rocket launches, and conduct further research into the reuse of launch vehicles to lower costs," Fu Zhimin, a chief technologist at CASIC, said at a conference on Monday, as quoted by *SpaceNews*. Most notably, CASIC is planning to test a reusable spaceplane system, called Tengyun, within the next five years. The plane will reportedly be able to take off and land horizontally, hauling both cargo and passengers into orbit. It will also be able to release satellites into space. ## Getting Crowded The plane is reportedly unrelated to the launch of a ["reusable experimental spacecraft"]() last month. CASIC is also planning to launch internet-beaming satellites, providing remote areas with low-cost connectivity — an initiative that sounds reminiscent of SpaceX's Starlink constellation. The company's workhorse Kuaizhou rocket has already launched ten times so far. A variant called Kuaizhou-1A can deliver 440 pounds into a Sun-synchronous orbit. Much larger Kuaizhou-21 and -31 solid rockets are currently in development, according to *SpaceNews*, increasing the maximum payload to 154,000 pounds. **READ MORE:** [China’s CASIC reveals five-year plan for reusable spaceplane, commercial space projects]() \[*SpaceNews*\] **More on China's space** **efforts:** [China Just Launched a Mysterious "Reusable Test Spacecraft"]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()