For years now, space trackers have watched as China’s top-secret spaceplane, dubbed Shenlong, has been circling the Earth, releasing mysterious objects as it goes.
But getting an actual look at the experimental craft has proven near impossible — until now. As Ars Technica reports, a satellite owned by commercial operator Vantor (formerly Maxar) snapped a picture of the plane in 2024, which has finally been released two years later.
The photo shows a vehicle with two slim wings and what appears to be a docked satellite featuring two large solar arrays. The overall design is closely reminiscent of the US military’s own spaceplane, the Space Force’s top-secret X-37B.
The image was released as part of the Pentagon’s recently unclassified Defense Intelligence Agency assessment on space-based threats.
However, beyond giving us a rare, first-hand look, the report itself offers little in terms of what the spaceplane is actually doing in orbit. China has been extremely secretive about the purpose of its four spaceplane missions over the last six years.
The country’s space agency has previously claimed that Shenlong will “pave the way for more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future.”
Beyond releasing mysterious objects while in orbit, experts suggest the spaceplane has also been used to capture other objects, possibly using robotic arms.
Meanwhile, the Space Force’s X-37B, which was developed by Boeing, has spent thousands of days circling the planet over the last 16 years. Its most recent mission launched in August 2025, well over a year ago. In 2024, the plane slammed its brakes in orbit during a risky “aerobraking maneuver” designed to lower itself from a “highly elliptical orbit.”
Beyond getting a closer look at China’s equivalent, the Pentagon warned in its latest report that the Chinese military has “multiple ground-based laser weapons with varying power levels to disrupt, degrade, or damage satellites.”
“By the late 2020s, China may field space-based directed energy systems and higher-powered ground-based directed energy systems capable of threatening satellites in higher orbits,” the report reads.
More on spaceplanes: Mysterious Chinese Space Plane Conducting Unknown Mission in Orbit
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