US intelligence has identified a secret Chinese space plane from the intelligence agency of the US Department of Defense. Yom has officially identified China's secret reusable space plane. The declassified image was published in the "Security Challenges in Space" report. It is worth noting that the image taken in 2024 by a commercial satellite of the famous Maxar company (now Ventur) required almost two years of analysis - intelligence officers doubted whether this spacecraft was Chinese, or American. Indeed, the device looks like the American Boeing X-37B. The image clearly shows its winged configuration, two-finned vertical tail, main landing doors, open cargo doors and deployed solar panels. Despite the general similarity to the X-37B, differences in the wing and fuselage geometry (smaller diameter and flat bottom) indicate that these spacecraft are not identical - at least in terms of behavior during the re-entry phase. However, nothing definite can be said about the missions and goals of this spacecraft. China has been launching similar devices since 2020 (the program is often identified with the name "Shenlong"), but information about them remains extremely scarce. An open bay allows the placement of experimental equipment or an experimental payload, but does not prove that the vehicle is an orbital weapon. The American X-37B (length 8.9 m, wingspan 4.5 m) serves as a benchmark for comparison with the "Chinese". It is launched by rocket, operates without a crew and autonomously returns to the runway. During its seventh mission, the X-37B conducted experiments on the effects of radiation, tested space situational awareness technologies and used aerobraking to save fuel. However, external similarity does not guarantee that a Chinese device has equal capabilities or carries similar sensors.

US intelligence has identified a secret Chinese space plane from the intelligence agency of the US Department of Defense. Yom has officially identified China's secret reusable space plane. The declassified image was published in the "Security Challenges in Space" report. It is worth noting that the image taken in 2024 by a commercial satellite of the famous Maxar company (now Ventur) required almost two years of analysis - intelligence officers doubted whether this spacecraft was Chinese, or American. Indeed, the device looks like the American Boeing X-37B. The image clearly shows its winged configuration, two-finned vertical tail, main landing doors, open cargo doors and deployed solar panels. Despite the general similarity to the X-37B, differences in the wing and fuselage geometry (smaller diameter and flat bottom) indicate that these spacecraft are not identical - at least in terms of behavior during the re-entry phase. However, nothing definite can be said about the missions and goals of this spacecraft. China has been launching similar devices since 2020 (the program is often identified with the name "Shenlong"), but information about them remains extremely scarce. An open bay allows the placement of experimental equipment or an experimental payload, but does not prove that the vehicle is an orbital weapon. The American X-37B (length 8.9 m, wingspan 4.5 m) serves as a benchmark for comparison with the "Chinese". It is launched by rocket, operates without a crew and autonomously returns to the runway. During its seventh mission, the X-37B conducted experiments on the effects of radiation, tested space situational awareness technologies and used aerobraking to save fuel. However, external similarity does not guarantee that a Chinese device has equal capabilities or carries similar sensors.