According to report: China confirms test with “spaceship”

Hyperschallwaffe

Beijing (dpa) – China says it has tested a new spaceship with reusable technology.

In response to journalists’ questions about a report in the Financial Times about an alleged attempt in August with a nuclear-weapon capable hypersonic missile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Monday in Beijing: “It was a spaceship, not a missile.”

He spoke of a “routine test”. It was about using technology again. This is important in space travel in order to reduce costs. “Many other countries and companies are doing similar tests.” Remains of the spaceship fell into the East China Sea. The spokesman did not give any further details.

The “Financial Times” had reported, citing five anonymous sources, that the “rocket” had circled the globe once in low orbit before it missed its target by about 15 kilometers. It was taken as evidence that China’s military was far more advanced with its hypersonic weapons program than US intelligence agencies had previously assumed.

Hypersonic weapons are particularly difficult to intercept because they can reach more than five times the speed of sound. Both the US and Russia are currently working on hypersonic missiles. North Korea also stated that it tested a hypersonic missile in September.

When asked, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin did not want to comment directly on the incident reported. “What I can tell you is that we are closely monitoring China’s development of weapons, advanced capabilities and systems that will only increase tensions in the region,” Austin said on the sidelines of a visit to Georgia. The UN did not want to comment on the specific case, but was “very concerned about the lack of progress that we have seen worldwide on disarmament issues.”

A member of the US Congress, Mike Gallagher, interpreted the report as a wake-up call. “This test should serve as a call to action,” said the Republican. “If we stick to our current inactive course, (…) we will lose the New Cold War with communist China within this decade.”

According to Gallagher, China has increasing capabilities to undermine the US missile defense and even to threaten it with nuclear strikes. The Republican represents the US state of Wisconsin in the House of Representatives and sits on the important committee on the US armed forces.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211018-99-635377 / 13

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