China reveals reusable cargo shuttle design for Tiangong space station (video)

China has unveiled the design of a new reusable shuttle to take cargo to and from the country's space station.

The Haolong space shuttle is being developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Design and Research Institute under the state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). It is one of two winning projects stemming from a call for proposals from China's human spaceflight agency, CMSA, to develop low-cost cargo spacecraft.

China currently uses its robotic Tianzhou spacecraft to send cargo to the Tiangong space station. But, taking a leaf out of NASA's book to encourage commercial resupply options for the International Space Station, CMSA wanted new, low-cost ideas that can also return experiments and other cargo to Earth, unlike the Tianzhou, which burns up on reentry.

Haolong will launch atop of a rocket and land horizontally on Earth on a runway.  The space shuttle measures 32.8 feet (10 meters) long and 26.2 feet (8 m) wide, and weighs less than half of the Tianzhou capsule, which has a mass of up to 31,000 pounds (14,000 kilograms). The winged spacecraft is now in the engineering flight verification phase, meaning its design and systems are under review before being built. 

The shuttle's engineers are already hailing the design. "The Haolong space cargo shuttle is a winged aircraft with an aerodynamic design featuring a large wingspan and a high lift-to-drag ratio," Fang Yuanpeng, chief designer of Haolong, told China Central Television (CCTV). "With a blunt-nosed fuselage and large, swept-back delta wings, it combines the characteristics of both spacecraft and aircraft, allowing it to be launched into orbit by a rocket and land on an airport runway like a plane," he added.

Haolong will dock with Tiangong, allowing astronauts to enter and exit to collect or stow cargo. After completing the cargo transport mission, Haolong will separate from the space station, autonomously deorbit and reenter the atmosphere, and land horizontally on the designated airport runway. 

"After inspection, maintenance and repair, it will be able to perform cargo transport missions again," said Fang.

It is not the only reusable cargo shuttle in development. Private American firm Sierra Space is developing the long-delayed Dream Chaser to send cargo and astronauts to low Earth orbit.

China aims to operate Tiangong for at least a decade, and plans to expand the three-module, T-shaped orbital outpost to six modules. Haolong could play a part in keeping the space station supplied with food, experiments and other cargo.