China’s state rocket company unveils rendering of a Starship look-alike

Enlarge / Screenshot of a presentation from China's main state-owned rocket manufacturer, CALT. (credit: Weibo/CALT)

This weekend, China celebrated its sixth "National Space Day" in Nanjing, a capital city in one of the country's eastern provinces. As part of the festivities, Chinese space officials highlighted the Chang'e-5 mission's recent return of lunar samples, some of which were on display, and announced the name of China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, which is scheduled to land on the red planet in May.

A booth operated by China's main state-owned rocket manufacturer, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, also spotlighted the potential for suborbital point-to-point transportation. This is a concept in which a vehicle launches from Earth, flies into suborbital space, and touches down halfway around the world in less than an hour.

The promotional video, captured and shared on the Chinese social network Weibo, shows two different concepts for achieving suborbital passenger flights about two decades from now. What is interesting about the video (which I've mirrored on YouTube) is that the first concept looks strikingly like SpaceX's Starship vehicle. It shows a large vehicle capable of vertical takeoff and vertical landing.

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