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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

A Chinese newspaper and other sources are reporting that China is already testing an EmDrive thruster in space [sciencealert.com], aboard the Tiangong-2 space station [soylentnews.org]:

[Researchers] in China have announced that they've already been testing the controversial drive in low-Earth orbit, and they're looking into using the EM Drive to power their satellites as soon as possible.

Big disclaimer here - all we have to go on right now is a press conference announcement [ibtimes.co.uk] [archive.is [archive.fo]] and an article from a government-sponsored [stdaily.com] Chinese newspaper (and the country doesn't have the best track record [sciencealert.com] when it comes to trustworthy research).

[...] But what the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) team is saying also corresponds with information provided to IB Times from an anonymous source. According to their informant, China already has an EM Drive on board its version of the International Space Station, the space laboratory Tiangong-2 [sciencealert.com].

[EXTENDED COPY]

It had been recently suggested that the U.S. is testing an EmDrive aboard the X-37B spaceplane [nextbigfuture.com]:

In November 2016 the International Business Times claimed the U.S. government was testing a version of the EmDrive on the Boeing X-37B and that the Chinese government has made plans to incorporate the EmDrive on its orbital space laboratory Tiangong-2. In 2009 an EmDrive technology transfer contract with Boeing was undertaken via a State Department TAA and a UK export licence, approved by the UK MOD. The appropriate US government agencies including DARPA, USAF and NSSO were aware of the contract. However, prior to flight, the propulsion experiment aboard the X-37B was officially announced as a test of a Hall-effect thruster built by Aerojet Rocketdyne.

Some are already envisioning probes that could reach far beyond the Kuiper belt (thousands of astronomical units) in around a decade. This would allow the exploration of trans-Neptunian objects such as Sedna [wikipedia.org] (around 86 AU from the Sun, with an estimated aphelion of 936 AU) and the hypothetical Planet Nine [wikipedia.org] (estimated to be between 200 and 1,200 AU away).

We must not allow an EmDrive gap.

Also at redOrbit [redorbit.com], and Chinatopix [chinatopix.com], which notes that previous Chinese EmDrive tests have resulted in false positives and that the EmDrive was not publicly listed among the items brought aboard the Tiangong-2 in October.

Previously: EmDrive Peer-Reviewed Paper Coming in December; Theseus Planning a Cannae Thruster Cubesat [soylentnews.org]
It's Official: NASA's Peer-Reviewed EmDrive Paper Has Finally Been Published [soylentnews.org]

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