China's mystery space plane has landed after 276 days in orbit

China's mystery space plane has landed after 276 days in orbit
By T.K. Randall
May 10, 2023

What has China's space plane been up to ? Image Credit: NASA
China's answer to the X-37B has returned to Earth once again after nearly a year of unspecified activities in space.
Officially part of China's efforts to develop reusable spaceflight technologies, the space plane has long remained something of an enigma.

In reality, it is likely to perform a similar role to the X-37b - a secretive spaceplane originally developed by NASA before being handed over to the US Department of Defense - which has itself conducted numerous secretive missions into space lasting up to several years at a time.

Last year, China's space plane made headlines when the US Space Force's 18th Space Defense Squadron reported that it had unexpectedly changed orbit and had deployed an unknown object.

Some speculated that it could have been some sort of monitoring satellite or test payload, while others believed that it was likely to be a service module.

As things stand, no definitive answer has been forthcoming.

While China has not disclosed where the vehicle landed, it was likely to have been at the Lop Nur military base in Xinjiang.

In all likelihood, it will launch again on another secretive mission within the not-too-distant future.

Source: Space News


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