In the years since its launch, the spacecraft Shenlong has remained a mystery to many. According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and space activity tracker at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, there have been no significant maneuvers made by the craft since its release. This has led some to speculate that it may simply be an inert piece of hardware.
Amateur astronomer Scott Tilley, who has previously helped NASA find lost satellites, also confirmed that there have been no new signals emitted by either the object or the plane since its launch. Despite this lack of information, it is known that Shenlong raised its orbit from around 300km to 600km in late January and remains at that altitude.
The third flight of Shenlong took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in the Gobi Desert on December 14, 2023. Unlike other spaceplanes such as the US military spaceplane X-37B, little information has been released about Shenlong’s size or capabilities. The maiden flight of Shenlong in 2020 lasted just two days while its second mission in August 2022 lasted nine months during which a subsatellite was reportedly ejected and recaptured multiple times to test related technologies.
After the third launch of Shenlong in December, space activity trackers suggested that at least five objects were released into low-Earth orbit, two of which emitted radio signals similar to the plane’s signals. However, it was determined that these objects were likely debris from the Long March rocket that carried Shenlong to its initial orbit. Despite this lack of information about the current mission, Chinese space authorities have not disclosed details about Shenlong’s latest mission or return date. A brief report released by state media after the launch mentioned that the spacecraft would operate in orbit for a period before returning to its intended landing site in China and would focus on reusable technology verification and space science experiments to support peaceful use of space
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