China’s Secretive Reusable Spaceplane Lands After 267 Days in Orbit

China’s reusable spaceplane finished its third mission, returning to Earth on Thursday night.

Xinhua, China’s state media, confirmed the return but didn’t share any pictures or specific details about the mission or where it landed.

The report stated, “success of the experiment demonstrates the growing maturity of China’s reusable spacecraft technologies, which will pave the way for more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future.”

China launched the spacecraft on December 14 from Jiuquan spaceport using a Long March 2F rocket. This launch happened two weeks before the U.S. sent its X-37B spaceplane into orbit with a Falcon Heavy rocket. Many think China’s spaceplane is similar to the X-37B.

Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist, believes the spacecraft flew over Lop Nur landing site around 9:10 p.m. on September 5.

The Chinese spaceplane has completed its third flight.
Chinese media reported (at 0144 UTC) landing of the plane on Sep 6 (Beijing time). My calculations show the orbit ground track of 2023-195A passed over the usual Lop Nor landing site at 0110 UTC Sep 6 (about an hour ago).

— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589)

People sometimes wonder how these space missions keep so secret.

In July, hobbyist astronomers noticed the spacecraft moving in orbit, suggesting it was getting ready to return. This mission lasted 267 days, almost as long as the second mission, which was 276 days. The first mission in 2020 was only two days.

Rendezvous and Proximity Operations

Each mission involved releasing a small satellite or object into orbit. In the second and third missions, the main spacecraft seemed to get close to and interact with the released object. In June, the third flight showed more of these proximity operations.

Though it’s unclear if the spaceplane temporarily picked up and released the object again, their closeness hints at planned proximity maneuvers. Such actions could help with fixing or maintaining satellites or even disrupting enemy satellites.

China has kept this mission very secretive, sharing no images or descriptions.

The short reports from China claim the spacecraft is for testing reusable technology and space science experiments, meant for peaceful space use.

The orbital spacecraft will work together with a reusable suborbital craft, which was tested in 2021 and flew again in August 2022.

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) built the spacecraft. They plan a fully reusable, two-stage-to-orbit system. The project got national funding from the Natural Science Foundation of China in 2022.

China’s push for better access to space includes developing reusable tech. How quickly they can relaunch the vehicle after landing will show progress in reusability.

Space is full of mysteries!