China’s secretive space plane releases an unidentified object into orbit – and experts
A secretive Chinese space plane has released an unidentified object into orbit, a US-based surveillance company has revealed.
China‘s ‘Reusable Experimental Spacecraft’ is one of the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) most closely guarded secrets.
However, this elusive craft has now been spotted releasing something into orbit above Earth.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have remained silent about what this craft’s intended purpose might be.
This was spotted by Leo Labs, an American space tracking firm, which detected the appearance of a new object from their radar station in New Zealand.
It posted on X: ‘At 02:30 UTC on 22 June 2026, LeoLabs detected an unknown object in the vicinity of the Chinese Shenlong reusable space plane.’
The company added: ‘Following additional observations across our global network and analysis via LeoLabs Delta, we have independently catalogued this object and assessed with high confidence that it was released from the Chinese space plane.
‘This activity is consistent with sub-satellite deployments conducted by the space plane in previous missions.’
A secretive Chinese space plane has been spotted launching a ‘mystery object’ into orbit by a US surveillance company
The Reusable Experimental Spacecraft launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert on February 6.
As with its previous launches, the objective of the mission was not made public, but the release of this unknown object offers a tantalising clue.
According to Professor Jonathan McDowell, of the Durham University Space Research Centre, this object has now been logged by the American Space Force.
However, what the object is or why it has been deployed remains something of a mystery.
Professor McDowell told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s hard to say at the moment, it might just be a cubesat (a small satellite commonly used to conduct research), but it could be a very small spy satellite – nothing fancy.
‘Previous things ejected from earlier flights of the space plane have not manoeuvred or done anything particularly interesting.’
This suggests that the space plane is more likely to be for ‘doing experiments and testing advanced technology’, rather than active missions in space.
What will be more revealing, Professor McDowell suggests, is whether the space plane later attempts to collect the satellite with a robot arm.
US-based space tracking firm Leo Labs spotted ‘an unknown object in the vicinity of the Chinese Shenlong reusable space plane’ on June 22
Even by the standards of the CNSA, the Reusable Experimental Spacecraft is exceptionally secretive, and almost nothing is known about its design or function.
It is believed to be similar to the USA’s own secretive space plane, the X-37, or NASA’s space shuttle.
However, besides a few digital renders, there are no official images of what the craft might look like.
The best publicly available images of the space plane were taken by amateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker using a ground-based telescope.
In 2024, a series of images captured by Mr Schöfbänker showed that the space plane was apparently fitted with a pair of solar panels that had not appeared in any of the renderings.
The Reusable Experimental Spacecraft has already completed three prior missions, spending around 500 days in space, and has a track record of unusual behaviour.
In 2024, observers noted that the space plane may have ejected a small satellite or piece of unwanted equipment as it reached the end of its scheduled mission.
Six months earlier, the craft caused alarm when it appeared to release three sub-satellites at once, but these were later found to be leftover debris from launch.
Almost nothing is known about China’s ‘Reusable Experimental Spacecraft’, but it is believed to be similar in design to NASA’s X-37. Pictured: Digital render of the space plane’s design
The best images of the mysterious spacecraft come from amateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker, who managed to photograph the space plane from a ground-based telescope
More concerningly, observers have noted the space plane making so-called ‘rendezvous and proximity operations’, in which a craft practices getting as close as possible to another object.
Rendezvous and proximity operations can be used for entirely peaceful means, such as refuelling and repairing damaged satellites.
But there are concerns that the US, China, and Russia are all preparing spacecraft that have the ability to interfere or tamper with adversary satellites.
This could include knocking spy satellites out of orbit, turning communication satellites to face the wrong way, or simply grabbing a spacecraft with a robotic arm.
The US Space Force is almost certainly developing its own rendezvous and proximity operations capability, and even commissioned an illustration of a space plane intercepting a satellite as its first-ever piece of official artwork.
Likewise, two Russian ‘inspector’ satellites came within ten feet (three metres) of each other in May as the country ramps up its space warfare research.
Professor McDowell suggests that China’s investment in this technology could have been prompted by similar research from its American counterparts.
However, for now, it is impossible to say whether the Reusable Experimental Spacecraft has a benign or military application.
WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? MORE THAN 170 MILLION PIECES OF DEAD SATELLITES, SPENT ROCKETS AND FLAKES OF PAINT POSE ‘THREAT’ TO SPACE INDUSTRY
There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called ‘space junk’ – left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes – in orbit alongside some US$700 billion (£555bn) of space infrastructure.
But only 27,000 are tracked, and with the fragments able to travel at speeds above 16,777 mph (27,000kmh), even tiny pieces could seriously damage or destroy satellites.
However, traditional gripping methods don’t work in space, as suction cups do not function in a vacuum and temperatures are too cold for substances like tape and glue.
Grippers based around magnets are useless because most of the debris in orbit around Earth is not magnetic.
Around 500,000 pieces of human-made debris (artist’s impression) currently orbit our planet, made up of disused satellites, bits of spacecraft and spent rockets
Most proposed solutions, including debris harpoons, either require or cause forceful interaction with the debris, which could push those objects in unintended, unpredictable directions.
Scientists point to two events that have badly worsened the problem of space junk.
The first was in February 2009, when an Iridium telecoms satellite and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided.
The second was in January 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite weapon on an old Fengyun weather satellite.
Experts also pointed to two sites that have become worryingly cluttered.
One is low Earth orbit which is used by satnav satellites, the ISS, China’s manned missions and the Hubble telescope, among others.
The other is in geostationary orbit, and is used by communications, weather and surveillance satellites that must maintain a fixed position relative to Earth.