China's top-secret spaceplane can't hide in low-Earth orbit
Summary
A U.S.-owned commercial satellite photographed a Chinese winged spaceplane in orbit in 2024. The Defense Intelligence Agency later released the full-resolution image in an unclassified report, which describes the vehicle’s capabilities but provides little new information about its activities.Key Facts
- The satellite that photographed the spaceplane was owned by Vantor, which was known as Maxar in 2024.
- The image became public when the Defense Intelligence Agency included it in a report released Monday.
- The Chinese spaceplane has flown four missions since 2020, each lasting up to nine months.
- The fourth mission launched in February and was still in orbit at the time of the article.
- Open-source tracking data analyzed by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell indicates the vehicle released a small satellite in June and recaptured it in July, then repeated the process in August and September.
- The Chinese spaceplane has so far operated in low-Earth orbit, at an altitude of a few hundred miles.
- The U.S. Space Force operates two X-37B spaceplanes in rotation, and one of their missions lasted about two and a half years.
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