China and the US are releasing competing modern technologies that could be important in a war situation where satellites are targeted in a supersonic race for rapid-fire satellite launch supremacy.
This month, The South China Morning Post (SCMP ) reported that China plans to construct a gigantic rocket to launch its Tengyun spacecraft, combining electric start and fast flight.
According to the SCMP report, China intends to use a gigantic electric launch track to launch a fast aircraft at Mach 1. 6. independent of the track, burn its engine, and travel near space seven times the speed of sound.
The Tengyun spacecraft was built to carry the personnel and their belongings into place and launch satellites into space. It might also be designed to carry out various missions, such as dock with or capturing satellites or conducting surveillance.
According to SCMP, the Tengyun job offers a practical way to address issues with high-speed trip efficiency.
In Datong, Shanxi province, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation ( CASIC ) has constructed a two-kilometer low-vacuum track high-speed maglev test facility.
According to the SCMP statement, the hospital may force a heavy object to frequencies approaching 1, 000 kilometers per hour. According to the report, the test line’s size may be increased so that it can travel at a highest rate of 5, 000 kilometers per hour in the upcoming years.
At the same time, US- based Stratolaunch’s Talon- A ( TA- 1 ) fast vehicle lately made its first driven flight carrying numerous test payloads off California’s coast, The Warzone reported this month.
The wedge-shaped unmanned aircraft, which was launched from the large Roc jet of the company, flew for about 200 seconds, accelerating at hypersonic speeds close to Mach 5, according to a Warzone report, adding that it is anticipated to finally reach Mach 6.
According to the report, Stratolaunch has focused on fast growth support since 2018 rather than its initial space launch focus. It mentions that the business is thinking about adding a fueling top-off capability to increase TA- 1’s performance.
The company’s next prototype, known as the TA- 2, is powered by its primary powered flight, which continues to reduce risk for the first reusable flight.
The US Missile Defense Agency does use TA- 1 and TA- 2, which are both completely washable and come with motorcycle landing gear for recovery.
Although TA-1’s stated goal is to serve as a testbed for hypersonic missile security, its design and testing data could be useful in developing Stratolaunch’s Black Ice spaceplane, which is hoped to have developed on-orbit goods return and goods establish capabilities.
Meanwhile, China’s spaceplane railgun launch system is similar in concept to the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System ( EMALS ) on its Fujian aircraft carrier and the US Gerald Ford- class supercarriers.
A linear induction motor is used to lift the aircraft off the flight deck, in contrast to traditional steam catapults. EMMA also makes it possible to launch heavier aircraft in a shorter time while being gentler on the aircraft itself.
However, in the 2017 Proceedings of the SARC- ACN International Conference, Azeem Sigh Kahlon and other writers point out that one EMALS launch can consume 100 megawatts of energy, enough to power a small town.
A conventionally powered ship would require more steam boilers, according to Kahlon and others, because that would require additional storage for other important equipment. They also point out that naval nuclear reactors have a low thermal efficiency because they need flexible power, in contrast to land-based reactors ‘ steady maximum power output.
China’s Fujian carrier may have a lower power output than US nuclear-powered supercarriers, but it is the only one outside the US Navy with EMALS technology.
However, putting EMALS technology on land might free up some of the power used to power conventional shipboards and make it easier to launch heavier loads like spacecraft.
The US and China have been encouraged to research cost-effective ways to deploy multiple satellites quickly because of the strategic significance of satellite constellations established by the conflict in Ukraine.
The capability to promptly launch large numbers of satellites is essential to providing space- based communications, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, targeting and redundancy.
In line with that, Sam Bresnick points out in a Breaking Defense article from August 2023 that China may already be ahead of the US in terms of tactically responsive space launch ( TRSL), which allows for quick replacement of damaged or destroyed satellites in the event of a conflict.
According to Bresnick, the US space industry has focused on maximizing the number of satellite launches possible in addition to payload capacity, reliability, and efficiency.
He points out that this has resulted in the creation of large, liquid-fuel rockets that require complex positioning and fueling techniques as well as sophisticated ground support equipment.  ,
In contrast, Bresnick notes that while China has similar liquid- fuel rockets, it has focused instead on developing mobile, solid- fuel rockets that do not need complex launch infrastructure.
Bresnick claims that these smaller rockets can launch from far away, making them ideal for replacing damaged or destroyed satellites, despite not being able to carry as many as liquid-fuel ones.
China’s railgun- launched Tengyun may further strengthen its TRSL capabilities, although it may face stiff competition from US reusable rockets.
In an April 2023 McKinsey & Company article, Chris Daehnick and other authors point out that reusable launch technologies like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets have reduced the cost of launching payloads into orbit from US$ 65, 000 per kilogram to around$ 1, 000.
Significantly, China has yet to demonstrate reusable rocket technology. China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation ( CASC ) plans to launch reusable rockets in 2025 and 2026, according to Space News this month.  ,
Daehnick and others point out the 5- to 9-year delay between the start of a medium- and heavy-lift vehicle’s first flight and its peak launch rate.
Although they point out that historical experience may be less relevant as new manufacturing techniques and approaches are used, that lag may be more prominent in prototype spaceplanes.
While spaceplane technology is still in development, making the former a more well-established and practical launch option in the near future, while reusable rocket technology is still relatively mature.