China's 3rd reusable 'test spacecraft' mission takes off into space

China on Friday announced the launch of its third reusable spacecraft, set to conduct various tests while in orbit before returning after "some time."

The State Council, the cabinet of the country's government, said in a statement that the indigenously-built Long March-2F carrier rocket blasted off late Thursday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gobi Desert, carrying the reusable space plane.

"The reusable test spacecraft will operate in orbit for some time before returning to the scheduled landing site in China," said the statement.

"During the in-orbit operation, the spacecraft will conduct verifications for reusable technologies and space science experiments to provide technical support for the peaceful use of space," it added.

Two earlier space plane missions launched in 2020 and 2022.

Taiwan's Defense Ministry said late Thursday on X that it had "detected" China's launch but that it posed "no threat to us, b/c (because) the flight path flew toward the East China Sea and West Pacific Ocean."