Sep. 02 (China Military Newx cited from wired.com) -- It would appear that China has successfully carried out a satellite rendezvous maneuver in orbit. And on August 19, the two satellites may have even touched, one probe being shunted aside by the other.

The event was first reported by the Russian media and U.S. military tracking data seems to back up these early reports. Now the question on everyone's mind is: Why?

It may be tempting to jump to the conclusion that this technology has some kind of military application -- after all, satellites have been in China's cross-hairs before.

In January 2007, the nation demonstrated its anti-satellite prowess by destroying a defunct weather satellite at an altitude of over 500 miles. China was heavily criticized in the aftermath and the debris remains a problem to this day.

Shijian-9 Micro satellite

In 2008 however, the U.S. military replied by destroying a dead spy satellite demonstrating its ability to take out spacecraft too.

Although the tit-for-tat exchange of satellite carnage looks like the rumblings of a new arms race, this most recent unannounced satellite game of tag may not be as sinister as it seems.

The two Chinese "Shi Jian" ("Practice") satellites called SJ-06F and SJ-12 are officially designated as science spacecraft and their mission comes in advance of the launch of China's planned space station.

Jul.18 (China Defense Mashup News) -- Chinese Inner Mongolia North Heavy Industries Group recently announced that the group has successfully provided the key element of "JF12 Shockwave Hypersonic wind tunnel", which is the most advanced and creative project in
world Hypersonic research area.

"JF12 Shockwave Hypersonic wind tunnel" is being constructed for the initiation of China's future spaceplane project. JF12 Windtunnel is mainly designed by the Institute of Mechanics, CAS (Chinese Academy of Science). CAS found a creative detonation driven method to design a shock tunnel which can provide a reproducible flight condition for hypersonic research.

China's Φ2m Shockwave Wind Tunnel

"JF12 Shockwave Hypersonic wind tunnel" includes Main Applications like: Aerodynamic characteristics research for aircraft; Shockwave/boundary layer interference study; Investigations on shock wave oscillation and pressure fluctuation in separated flow fields; Jet/flow interference investigation; Scramjet engine investigation; Aero-optics investigation.

December 12 in 2007, a shocking photo appearing on Internet effectively proves that China is researching on next generation reusable space vehicle. A No.40672 H-6 bomber was ready to take-off and carrying a scaled TAV (Trans-Atmospheric Vehicle) model on its central line hard point.