Chapter 35 Interview_1

The Cloud Ascend Project, a long-term aero-space plane initiative planned by the aerospace bureau.

It is specifically made up of two stages: the lower one is a large aircraft capable of taking off from the ground, flying to altitudes above 30,000 meters into near-space using turbo-ramjet engines.

Mounted on its back is a small space plane, similar to the H1, but with a bigger takeoff weight of around 30 tons.

When the combined aircraft reaches the edge of the atmosphere, the small space plane detaches and ignites, using its own power to fly to low Earth orbit to carry out space missions.

Both large and small aircraft are able to return intact to the airport and can be reused for subsequent tasks after maintenance and refueling.

It's not bad that the aerospace bureau collectively calls this system an aero-space plane, indeed the actual outcome is similar.