China has launched its secretive reusable space plane into orbit for the fourth time, marking another step in Beijing’s quietly expanding space capabilities, and once again leaving observers unsure about what it’s actually doing up there.
The spacecraft, widely known in space-watching circles as Shenlong, meaning “Divine Dragon,” lifted off on February 7 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China aboard a Long March-2F rocket.
This mission adds to a series of flights that began in 2020, yet official Chinese sources have offered only minimal detail about the craft, its objectives or how long it will remain in orbit.
China’s government has described the space plane program as part of technology testing that will support “more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future,” according to state media reports. But beyond such broad language, very little is publicly known, including the vehicle’s exact design, payloads or operations.
That lack of transparency has left space experts and trackers piecing together clues from satellite data, amateur observations and orbital tracking.
Previous Shenlong missions have lasted from a couple of days to more than eight months, and in at least one case, the spacecraft was observed releasing objects into orbit that may have been small satellites or test hardware.
The spacecraft is thought to resemble the Boeing X-37B, an unmanned reusable spaceplane operated by the U.S. Space Force, which also conducts highly classified missions in orbit. Like its American counterpart, Shenlong is believed to be capable of manoeuvres in low Earth orbit that go beyond what typical satellites do, though the details remain largely speculative.
Despite the secrecy, China’s repeated launches of this type of vehicle highlight the nation’s advancing interests in reusable spacecraft technology, a domain that could one day support on-orbit servicing, satellite deployment or other specialised operations.
For now, however, the world continues to watch and wonder.
With no official announcements and only scattered data from outside observers, the precise role of Shenlong’s latest mission remains unclear, which shows that space exploration still carries secrets as vast as the distances it travels.
