The Ituri spacecraft

[xenomorph555]

I have no hard fact evidence here so as usual with take with a brick of salt.

This is apparent information on the Ituri spacecraft (not sure on the translation), the apparent next gen Chinese spacecraft.

It will have 3 modules, the usual orbital-descent-service configuration

It will be deep space capable

It will carry 3-5 people

Orbital module will be 2.5 tonnes

Descent capsule will be slightly larger then Apollo at 4 meters diameter and will weigh 6.5 tonnes

Service module will be 11 tonnes full mass (with 8 tonnes of propellant)

The main engine will have a 305s specific impulse and deltav of 1526m/s

Complete spacecraft will be around 20 tonnes

Descent capsule will be re-usable

Yeah not sure sure what to think about this, probably wrong. I won't say fake because they are working on a next gen ship but I doubt it's this. We'll see

[Neil1993]

That's some pretty specific data. Where did you hear about this?

[xenomorph555]

That's some pretty specific data. Where did you hear about this?

I was thinking a similar thing.

I first discovered this info on a Chinese space forum, it was a thread about the LM-9 (they were discussing whether a 100 tonne launcher could take Ituri to the moon or something like that). People were just talking about Ituri like it was common knowledge (they do have a thread on "the next generation ship" but I haven't taken the time to to read it completely yet), so I was sitting there being the silly westerner oblivious to the information. At this point I started to research this "Ituri" (which I thought was Japanese at first ) and found this information.

While I have doubts someone would actually take time to make this up I don't think it's real either. You'll know what I mean if you've ever had the pleasure of talking to Soheil from Iran...

[Neil1993]

I know what you mean. I know some people from Russia and they've told me about similar "super-projects"

[xenomorph555]

I know what you mean. I know some people from Russia and they've told me about similar "super-projects"

Oh god please tell us XD, this sounds funny!

[Neil1993]

Oh god please tell us XD, this sounds funny!

I don't know if I can! Apparently, they're "Top Secret" XD

(some examples: Russian hypersonic fighter jet, hypersonic ICBMs, etc.)

[xenomorph555]

I don't know if I can! Apparently, they're "Top Secret" XD

(some examples: Russian hypersonic fighter jet, hypersonic ICBMs, etc.)

Haha that's funny XD, although the hypersonic ICBM is probably real though especially with US and China persuing them...

[Scotius]

Hypersonic. Fighter. Jet. *sigh* People - to stay alive and be able to do its job, modern fighter has to be as stealthy as possible. Otherwise it will be shot down by AA systems soon after being detected. Tearing through the air at circa 5 km\s is not very conductive to stealth. Or maneuverability - which is still one of most important features of a proper fighter plane. Hypersonic aircraft at best will be a glorified cruise missile - which is kinda pointless, as we already have plenty of those available.

[wasmic]

Hypersonic. Fighter. Jet. *sigh* People - to stay alive and be able to do its job, modern fighter has to be as stealthy as possible. Otherwise it will be shot down by AA systems soon after being detected. Tearing through the air at circa 5 km\s is not very conductive to stealth. Or maneuverability - which is still one of most important features of a proper fighter plane. Hypersonic aircraft at best will be a glorified cruise missile - which is kinda pointless, as we already have plenty of those available.

Good luck shooting something moving at mach 5 (not 5 km/s) down. The SR-71 had a top speed of ~mach 3.2 IIRC. No SR-71 was ever shot down, although plenty of AA missiles were fired towards them. The plane simply outran all the missiles.

A hypersonic fighter still wouldn't be practical, though. Imagine how hard hitting anything at all would be at those velocities, especially when you can't turn.

[Kryten]

Good luck shooting something moving at mach 5 (not 5 km/s) down. The SR-71 had a top speed of ~mach 3.2 IIRC. No SR-71 was ever shot down, although plenty of AA missiles were fired towards them. The plane simply outran all the missiles.

The SR-71 never overflew the USSR or PRC; it avoided anybody with relatively modern missile systems, in other words. Given 80's soviet heavy SAMs demonstrated terminal ABM capability, they were in fact perfectly capable of hitting something moving at mach 5, or indeed 5km/s.

Haha that's funny XD, although the hypersonic ICBM is probably real though especially with US and China persuing them...

All ICBMs are hypersonic. If you mean manouverable reentry vehicles, Russia has publicly tested those, although information is understandably scanty.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Kryten

[xenomorph555]

All ICBMs are hypersonic. If you mean manouverable reentry vehicles, Russia has publicly tested those, although information is understandably scanty.

I'm talking about hypersonic glider vehicles, the Wu-08 and... I don't think a name has been given to the American one.

Also this thread is getting off topic.

[Kryten]

The american one is HTV, and the Russian maneuverable warhead vehicle is RS-26. Given it's already been tested, and is plenned to be operational within a few years, it seems to just be an RS-24 with gliding warheads.

[xenomorph555]

After digging around awhile here is a list of developments for the Ituri so far.

2014:

-Project proposed by several key figures

-Project backed by Shenzhou head engineer

-Feasibility study started

-Feasibility study completed

-Pre-research begins

-Designing begins

-Project fully authorised and funded

-Shenzhou head engineer elected lead engineer of project

-Pre-research completed

-In depth R/D begins

-Design complete and chosen

-Prototyping and testing begins

-New re-usable parachute prototyped and tested for Ituri

-Scale model of descent capsule built

-Capsule and parachute combined test

The trail then went cold, that was in December 2014.

[Pipcard]

I was thinking a similar thing.

I first discovered this info on a Chinese space forum, it was a thread about the LM-9 (they were discussing whether a 100 tonne launcher could take Ituri to the moon or something like that). People were just talking about Ituri like it was common knowledge (they do have a thread on "the next generation ship" but I haven't taken the time to to read it completely yet), so I was sitting there being the silly westerner oblivious to the information. At this point I started to research this "Ituri" (which I thought was Japanese at first ) and found this information.

While I have doubts someone would actually take time to make this up I don't think it's real either. You'll know what I mean if you've ever had the pleasure of talking to Soheil from Iran...

First of all, what Chinese space forum? You can't just say "I found it on some website where they were talking about this" without telling the actual source.

Also, I wish there was a Japanese manned spacecraft, but the Lost Decade said no to that. Not until the 2020s at least, unfortunately.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Pipcard

[xenomorph555]

First of all, what Chinese space forum? You can't just say "I found it on some website where they were talking about this" without telling the actual source.

Also, I wish there was a Japanese manned spacecraft, but the Lost Decade said no to that. Not until the 2020s at least, unfortunately.

Ah sorry about that. The site was 9ifly.cn, quite a good site for finding documentation and other stuff as well as being reliable on most stuff, also a lot better then any of those terrible defence forums.

Yes it is sad that Japan would prefer to fund more military satellites then civilian programs, I guess tensions are high right about now...