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China has completed the inflight abord test of the new crewed capsule Mengzhou. This capsule ranges between Orion and Dragon in terms of mass and is intended to replace the current Shenzhou capsule for LEO and, in the future, lunar missions. This also marks the first launch of a (partial) Long March 10 rocket, which performed a successful water landing.
The CZ-10A test stage completed a successful 470-second flight, reaching a peak altitude of 105 km—the precise point where orbital missions will execute stage separation. Following the shutdown, the stage entered a glide phase in near-vacuum conditions to test attitude control and propellant settling.
The recovery sequence began 350 seconds into the flight with a powered deceleration burn, lasting one minute before transitioning to aerodynamic braking. For the final descent, the rocket narrowed its thrust to the centre engine, which maintained a controlled trajectory for the final 40 seconds until just before splashdown.
The Exploration company has successfully completed a series of water impact tests in support of their new Nyx capsule. The Nyx capsule is intended to bring cargo and, in the future, humans to space.
ESA Engineers have dropped landing legs designed for Mars on a simulated surface, validating their performance