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HELSINKI — China’s experimental reusable spacecraft launched an unknown object into orbit while on its third mission.

US Space Force space awareness teams cataloged the object as 59884 (International Designation 2023-195G). The alleged space plane was launched on December 14, 2023 and was in orbit for 164 days. The object appears to have been released on May 24th.

Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Space Activity Tracker was the first to note the event. He speculated on X, formerly Twitter, that the object could be a subsatellite deployment or a piece of hardware discarded before the end of the mission and deorbit.

The object can also be used for proximity and capture maneuvers. The spacecraft used a released object to perform multiple recaptures as part of in-orbit testing during its second flight.

China maintains strict secrecy surrounding the mission. The country’s space authorities have not released images or descriptions of the spacecraft. The only official Chinese report of the activity was a brief report on the launch hours after the event.

“During this period, the verification of reusable technology and space science experiments will be carried out as planned to provide technical support for the peaceful use of space,” the report said.

The spacecraft is seen as China’s attempt to develop similar capabilities to the X-37B. He is currently on his third mission. Reusable spacecraft represent a significant advance in space technology, offering the potential for reduced costs and increased mission frequency.

The Long March 2F rocket that launched the spacecraft has a payload capacity of just over eight metric tons to low Earth orbit. This suggests that the spacecraft may be somewhat similar in size and function to the US Air Force’s X-37B space plane.

This perception is reinforced by apparent images of payload fairing debris retrieved from the second launch and posted on the Sina Weibo social media site. The images provide possible clues about the size and shape of the spacecraft.

The first flight in 2020 lasted two days, while the second, launched in 2022, lasted 276 days. Both orbit visits involve releasing an object while in orbit.

The gap between the spacecraft’s first and second missions — launching in 2020 and 2022, respectively — was one year and 11 months. The third mission marked a seven-month turnaround.

On the third flight, the spacecraft performs maneuvers to change its orbit. The spacecraft entered an initial orbit 333 by 348 kilometers high, inclined at 50 degrees. Data from the US Space Force’s Space Domain Awareness shows that the spacecraft later raised its orbit through a series of maneuvers to its current orbit of 602 by 609 kilometers.

The reusable spacecraft could be the orbital segment that would work in combination with a reusable suborbital first stage. A reusable suborbital spacecraft was first tested in 2021. A second mission was launched in August 2022. The suborbital spacecraft uses vertical takeoff and horizontal landing.

The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the spacecraft’s developer, has announced plans to develop a fully operational, two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) space transport system ahead of its first launch. CASC’s space plane project received national-level funding from the Natural Science Foundation of China in 2022.

Meanwhile, the US Space Force’s X-37B space plane launched its seventh mission on December 28 last year. Flying the Falcon Heavy for the first time, space observers speculate that the spacecraft was sent into a highly elliptical orbit with a high inclination and at a much higher altitude than previous missions. The secret and autonomous X-37B reusable vehicle began flights in 2010.

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