[2] The latest academic models, shown in 2000, reveal a delta-winged spaceplane with a single vertical stabilizer, equipped with three high-expansion engines.
Presuming a seating arrangement of two crew members sitting side-by-side in the cockpit, dimensions could be very roughly estimated as a wingspan of 8 m, a length of 12 m and a total mass of 12 tonnes.
[citation needed] Images of an aerodynamic scaled model, ready to be launched from under the fuselage of a Xian H-6 bomber,[3][4] were first published on 11 December 2007.
These images, possibly taken in late 2005, show the vehicle's black reentry heat shielding, indicating a reusable design, and its engine assembly.
[8] As of 2007[update], the CAS academician Zhunang Fenggan (莊逢甘) said that a first test flight of the spaceplane would be conducted during the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan", from 2006 to 2010.