The Chinese company sending a turtle to space
China’s version of Elon Musk could launch reptile astronaut this month in precursor to manned missions that may cost as ‘little’ as 700,000 yuan
While Jeff Bezos’ space travel company Blue Origin – with two turtles on its coat of arms – unveiled new rockets last week, a Chinese company in Shenzhen is preparing to launch an actual turtle into near-space possibly as early as this month.
The reptile astronaut of Shenzhen-based Kuang-Chi Science, who is called Taigong Gui, or “Space Turtle”, is currently awaiting permission to board the Traveller II Beta that is expected to be launched this month from a remote location in Inner Mongolia (內蒙古).
While the Amazon.com founder likes turtles in his company’s insignia because “slow is smooth and smooth is fast”, Hong Kong-listed Kuang-Chi Science said it chose a turtle because it has stable vital signs and symbolises longevity and luck.
And Kuang-Chi founder and chairman Liu Ruopeng will need plenty of luck in the space-tourism race as competition is mounting globally from companies such as Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Liu is himself a “sea turtle”, or haigui, as Chinese students and professionals who have lived, worked and gained expertise overseas are called.
Virgin to restart tests to carry passengers to the edge of space
Kuang-Chi, a subsidiary of the Kuang Chi Science Group, is aiming to use this second trial of the Traveller craft as a springboard to manned tests next year, in direct competition with the likes of American company World View, which has been testing a similar balloon-lifted, six-passenger craft in the deserts of Arizona.
