Renewed Confusion But Still No EMDrive
Daily Galaxy and Physics-Astronomy are talking again about a September 2017 video that has an english title that says China is testing the controversial EMDrive in space. The video talks about China putting up a communication satellite. The English language title talks about EMdrive being tested and propellentless propulsion. EMdrive is a claimed propellentless propulsion system. One of the researchers in the video is Dr. Yue Chen who did make a claim about a successful lab test of an EMdrive system in 2016.
EMDrive is a truncated cone-shaped copper structure which reflects microwaves many times. The cone shape could also be made from superconductors. The claim is this object generates propulsive force without using any propellent.
However, as Nextbigfuture reported in 2017, the actual video does not make that claim. Listening to the Chinese that is spoken, we find the details of the EMdrive are NOT discussed. They do NOT ANY CLAIMS of having proven the controversial physics. The english language title is misleading and does not represent what is in the video. The video is mainly chinese propoganda that they have world-class regular communication satellite technology.
There is a brief section where Yue Chen discuss that they have done tests of propellentless electromagnetic propulsion but they do not discuss any new space-based tests.
They discuss 2000 kilogram payload and 120 transponder channels.
In December 2016, Yue Chen told a reporter at China’s Science and Technology Daily that his team was testing an EmDrive in orbit, and that they had been funding research in the area for five years. Chen noted that their prototype’s thrust was at the “micronewton to millinewton level”, which would have to be scaled up to at least 100–1000 millinewtons for a chance of conclusive experimental results. Despite this, he said his goal was to complete validation of the drive, and then to make such technology available in the field of satellite engineering “as quickly as possible”.