With robot delivery dogs and teleporting computers already a thing in the world, why not a real-life Star Wars warship?
Luanniao, a 100,000-tonne mothership that can carry 88 fighter space planes, is the future of cosmic warfare envisioned by China.
With a wingspan of 684 metres, the mammoth spacecraft is 242 meters long and can zip around within and well above Earth’s atmosphere.
From its deck, unmanned space fighters sporting ‘particle accelerator cannons and hypersonic missiles’ can zoom out and fire at targets.
These spaceships would be well out of the range of traditional aerial threats, like the weather or defensive systems.
The craft is one of several conceptual ships designed by the 2017 research initiative, the Nantianmen Project, or ‘Southern Heavenly Gate’ in English.
But a new report by China’s state-run news agency, CCTV, suggests that military officials could be moving to make them a reality.
Another craft being considered is the ‘White Emperor’ space fighter, which the broadcaster compared to the Transformers.
Computer-generated footage shows two of the sleek crafts tearing through the skies and taking down enemy aircraft.
A 1:1 scale model of the sci-jet, also called Bai Di, was unveiled at the 2024 China Air show – though not quite fully operational just yet.
A mock-up of a third futuristic craft, ‘Purple Fire’, was seen last year at the Helicopter China Expo at Port of Tianjin.
The plane has a ‘bladeless tail’ and can travel up to 88km per hour to carry out rescue operations and deliver supplies, according to CCTV.
The technology needed for a craft to hover in Earth’s low orbit, up to 1,200 miles above the planet, let alone above it, is not possible.
Space defence experts previously told Metro that even flecks of paint can pose a problem to modern spacecraft.
Chinese military analyst Wang Mingzhi said of the Nantianmen Project last month that these weapons are still very much in a conceptual stage.
He added: ‘These discrete cutting-edge technologies are not a question of whether they can be realised, but rather which ones will be realised first and when.’
Defence experts, however, are sceptical of whether the project by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China can ever happen.
Peter Layton told the Telegraph that the Luanniao would ‘outclass pretty much everyone’ but would require incalculable amounts of fuel.
The project is more of a ‘stunt’ to show Beijing’s military force.
Layton added: ‘For the external audience, it does paint the picture that they are working on technology that the region just can’t aspire to – it’s literally Star Wars stuff.’
Space analyst Heinrich Kreft told DW: ‘To my ears, this sounds as if China has put something out into the world with Taiwan very much in mind, in order to leave a marker.’
He added that China has long been ‘number two’ to the US when it comes to space advancements.
The pair is currently racing to be the first to bring humans back to the moon – and perhaps build a lunar base or two while they’re there.
But as much as Beijing has long been held back by its lack of reusable rocket launchpads and satellites, this is changing.
The country’s space officials have brought back moon samples, built giant rockets and completed the first major state-run space station, Tiangong, all thanks to ever-increasing government funding.
NASA, meanwhile, has faced budget cuts and its lunar missions have suffered numerous delays.
The advocacy group, the Commercial Space Federation, said in a report last year that it’s only a matter of time before China will overtake the US.
‘China is living its Apollo, ISS, and commercial space eras all at once,’ the report authors said.
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