During its third mission, China’s Shenlong robotic spaceplane has introduced an element of mystery to its space endeavors by deploying six unidentified objects into Earth’s orbit.
The mission, launched on December 14, successfully placed these objects into orbit, currently being tracked by both the U.S. Space Force and amateur observers.
The U.S. Department of Defense has designated these objects as OBJECT A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Amateur astronomer and satellite tracker Scott Tilley has closely examined these objects and reported his findings to Space.com.
OBJECT A’s signals, resembling “wingman” emissions from previous Chinese spaceplane missions, suggest a potential link to China’s earlier space activities, Gizmodo reported.
Interestingly, OBJECTs D and E emit idle “placeholder” signals without data. In past spaceplane missions in September 2020 and August 2022, Shenlong released similar unknown objects into orbit, leading to speculation that they could be service modules, inspector satellites for spacecraft tracking, or test items for orbital placement.
In November of the previous year, China’s spaceplane released another mysterious object, likely a service module to aid in the spacecraft’s return to Earth.
Concurrently, the United States operates its reusable robotic spaceplane, the Boeing-built X-37B. The U.S. Space Force plans to launch the X-37B aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on December 28, following several delays.
Written by B.C. Begley
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B.C. Begley 