Pentagon Confirms Operational Design of Chinese Reusable Spaceplane With New Orbital Imagery

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has published the clearest look yet at China's highly classified reusable spaceplane. The unclassified 2026 report, titled "Challenges to Security in Space," features a high-resolution photograph of the vehicle operating in low Earth orbit. The image confirms long-held suspicions about the spacecraft's architecture and operational capabilities.[1][2]

The photograph was captured on May 28, 2024, by a commercial WorldView-3 satellite operated by Maxar Technologies, now known as Vantor. Taken from a distance of just under 56 miles, the image provides an unprecedented bottom-up view of the Chinese vehicle. It shows the spaceplane with its payload bay doors visibly open to the vacuum of space.[1][3]

Analysts immediately noted the striking physical similarities between the Chinese design and the U.S. Space Force's own Boeing-built X-37B orbital test vehicle. Both spacecraft feature a miniature space shuttle configuration with twin vertical tails, small delta wings, and a tricycle landing gear system. However, the Chinese spaceplane possesses a noticeably longer wing chord than its American counterpart.[1][3]

"A key capability for reusable space activities are spaceplanes like this PRC Spaceplane captured by Maxar," the Defense Intelligence Agency report states in its caption. "Spaceplanes can launch into orbit to place objects in space or even test them and return to earth." The agency noted that these vehicles offer enhanced maneuverability compared to traditional satellites.[1]

Service Module and Orbital Endurance

The most significant technical revelation from the Vantor imagery is the confirmation of an attached service module at the rear of the spaceplane. The module is equipped with deployed solar arrays that provide electrical power and propulsion during extended orbital missions. Like the X-37B's service module, it is designed to separate from the main vehicle before atmospheric reentry.[2][3]

China has conducted four orbital missions with its reusable experimental spacecraft since the program's inaugural launch in September 2020. That first flight aboard a Long March 2F rocket lasted just two days, but subsequent missions have demonstrated rapidly expanding endurance. The second mission, launched on August 4, 2022, remained in orbit for 276 days and performed complex proximity operations.[2][4]

During that 2022 flight, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the vehicle appeared to "maneuver with a companion satellite and conduct station-keeping at around 1 km separation." The agency noted that at one point, the two objects closed to within 100 meters of one another. Commercial tracking company LeoLabs confirmed the spaceplane engaged in multiple docking operations with a sub-satellite designated Object J.[2][4]

The Maxar photograph was taken during the spaceplane's third mission, which launched on December 14, 2023, and concluded after 268 days on September 6, 2024. During this flight, the Defense Intelligence Agency reported that the vehicle again "released and interacted with an object." The open payload bay doors visible in the May 2024 image likely facilitated these deployment and recapture exercises.[1][2]

The Current Mission and Counterparts

A fourth mission is currently underway, having launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China on February 7, 2026. Independent orbital trackers observed the vehicle releasing and recapturing an unidentified object multiple times in September 2026. The U.S. Space Force's X-37B is also currently in orbit, conducting its eighth classified mission after launching on August 22, 2025.[1][3]

The Boeing-built X-37B has spent 431 days in low Earth orbit on its current flight, following a record-setting sixth mission that lasted 909 days. While both nations maintain extreme secrecy, the U.S. disclosed that its current mission includes testing advanced laser communication technology. The X-37B measures 8.84 meters in length and flies at approximately 28,045 kilometers per hour.[3]

The Defense Intelligence Agency report identifies two primary Chinese spaceplane models in development: the Shenlong and the Tengyun. While the agency did not specify which model is depicted in the 2024 photograph, Western analysts widely believe the vehicle is the Shenlong. The Tengyun program, managed by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation, is a distinct two-stage-to-orbit concept utilizing a mothership aircraft.[1][3]

The demonstrated ability to rendezvous with and capture objects in orbit has raised concerns among U.S. defense officials regarding potential counterspace applications. While these capabilities are essential for peaceful satellite inspection, they could also enable interference with adversarial spacecraft. The Defense Intelligence Agency assesses that China could deploy space-based directed-energy weapons by the late 2020s.[2]

Transparency and the Orbital Domain

Despite the military concerns, Chinese state media has consistently maintained that the spaceplane program is focused on peaceful technological development. Following the 2022 launch, the Xinhua news agency stated the mission would verify "reusable and in-orbit service technology" for civilian use. The vehicle lands autonomously on a massive 5-kilometer runway near the Lop Nur testing facility in Xinjiang.[2][3]

The release of the high-resolution imagery highlights the growing role of commercial non-Earth imaging in space domain awareness. Companies like Vantor are increasingly repointing their Earth-observation telescopes outward to photograph objects in orbit. "There is a separate satellite docked to the aft section of the vehicle whose structure and solar arrays are visible," Vantor confirmed regarding the May 2024 capture.[1][2]

The Defense Intelligence Agency's decision to declassify and publish the photograph signals a shift toward greater transparency regarding orbital threats. By publicly detailing the operational design of the Chinese spaceplane, the Pentagon is actively shaping the narrative around the militarization of space. The exact nature of the payloads carried within the spaceplane's open bay remains unknown, leaving its ultimate purpose an open question.[1][2]

The broader context of the intelligence report emphasizes that access to space traditionally requires single-use launch vehicles and satellites, making orbital operations expensive and exclusive. "Reusable technologies, while even more difficult and expensive to develop and build, stand to greatly reduce the cost of spaceflight," the report explains. This is achieved by recovering, refurbishing, and reusing rocket stages and capsules.[1]

China's investments in reusable space architecture extend beyond the Shenlong spaceplane. In August 2026, Chinese commercial launch company LandSpace successfully recovered a reusable rocket booster on land, following a similar at-sea recovery by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. These parallel developments indicate a comprehensive national strategy to dominate the next generation of orbital logistics.[1]