Footage taken from 90 kilometers away: China's secret spaceplane captured in orbit
The company Vantor has published a clear satellite image depicting China's experimental reusable spaceplane. The WorldView-3 apparatus captured the image from a distance of approximately 90 kilometers. The Defense Intelligence Agency of the US Department of Defense—DIA—has confirmed that it is indeed the Chinese spaceplane depicted in the photo.
Shot from 90 kilometers: China's secret spaceplane captured in orbit
The DIA included this photo in its new public report on global security threats in space. The satellite that took the image belongs to Vantor, a company formerly known as Maxar Technologies.
A higher-resolution version of the photo allowed for a more detailed view of the vehicle's structure. Visually, it resembles the X-37B miniature space shuttle used by the US Space Force.
The vehicle has small wings and two vertical tail fins. Above the central payload bay, doors opening upward are visible.
A module protruding from the tail section is depicted, with deployed solar panels on its two sides. Two side-by-side compartments are also visible on the lower part of the fuselage. They may be intended for the main gear of a tricycle landing system.
The American X-37B vehicle also features a tricycle landing gear and can be fitted with an additional payload module in the tail section.
One of the main visible differences lies in the shape of the wings: on the Chinese vehicle, the chord — the distance from the leading edge to the trailing edge of the wing — is significantly larger than that of the X-37B.
The DIA report mentions two main Chinese spaceplane models named "Shenlong" and "Tianyun." However, it is not specified which of them is depicted in the photo.
The name "Shenlong" is usually applied to the spaceplane that China has been testing in recent years.