China’s First Spaceplanes: A Look Into the Early History of the Chinese Crewed Space Program
As the American space shuttle dominated the skies, spaceplanes were the hottest trend in crewed spacecraft design in the 1980s. The Soviet Union followed suit with the construction of the more capable Buran shuttles, Europe’s Hermes spaceplane was on paper, and Japan had the HOPE program in proposal. China, at the time a developing power in the global space sector, had ambitions to send their own people to the stars. They favored the idea of a reusable spacecraft as a means of doing so.
A national effort to send its first astronauts was made in the early 1970s under Project 714, and by 1971 a group of 19 astronaut candidates were chosen for a proposed 1973 two-man mission. The program was canceled due to a lack of political interest and funding.
Project 863
The space shuttle mania in the 80s contributed to a re-ignition of interest in the development of a crewed space program. As several global superpowers were looking into making their presence in the final frontier, China was not eager to be left behind. During the wake of the Challenger accident, as the United States put its shuttle program on a temporary halt, China executed Project 863, or the State High-Tech Development Plan, to further enhance their technological prowess for…
