China's secret spaceplane is back after 268 days and placing secret objects in orbit
Representational image of a spaceplane
China's secret spaceplane has landed in the Gobi desert after spending 268 days in orbit during its third flight. Reports suggest that the mission was aimed at further developing the vehicle as it raised its altitude to 372 miles (600 kilometres) above Earth. The reusable spaceplane reportedly also released several objects in orbit.
Local media reported that the spaceplane, named Shenlong, touched down early Friday (Sep 6)morning in Beijing at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.
The spaceplane flew over the dried-up lake bed in the southeastern portion of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region known as Lop Nur, astrophysicist and space tracker Jonathan McDowell wrote on X.
With the space plane, China has been testing the technology to conduct experiments in space. The third mission also aimed to test the plane's reusable technology, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
While Beijing has never released any details about its spaceplane, an astrophotographer in Austria clicked some pictures of it in orbit in August. The pictures, although blurry, showed some extraordinary details about the plane. It is supposedly around 30 feet (10 metres) in length and has solar panels stuck to the tail-end of the spacecraft.
The third mission started on December 14, 2023, when it launched on board a Long March 2F carrier rocket. Soon after, it deployed six mystery objects into orbit and they seemed to be emitting various signals. In May, it released an object which has never been identified.
Its inaugural mission happened in 2021, and it was in orbit for only two days. The second time it was in orbit was August 2022 when it spent 276 days in space.
The United States also has a similar spaceplane, the Boeing X-37. It is being developed by the Space Force. It has already undertaken many more missions, and in December 2023 it went to space for its seventh mission which is still ongoing. It also holds the record for the longest-duration mission, spending 908 days in space on its sixth flight.
