China's spaceplane bears striking resemblance to America's X-37B

Defense Intelligence Agency space report includes a rare orbital snap of the Chinese craft, and it looks rather familiar

China's secretive spaceplane has been spotted in orbit by a US commercial satellite, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) 

The DIA's report [PDF] warns of developments by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea that allegedly threaten space security, at least from a US perspective. Most of the report details systems still under development, but one image on page 53 stands out: China's spaceplane, snapped in orbit in 2024 by Maxar Technologies.

The image has been seen before; a low-resolution snap from an industry symposium was shared by Bluesky user @dutchspace almost two years ago. However, the higher-resolution image in the DIA report shows more detail. The spaceplane also bears a distinct resemblance to the US Space Force's X-37B.

REG AD

The uncrewed X-37 began as a NASA project in 1999 before the US Department of Defense took over. After several atmospheric tests with an X-37A variant, the X-37B was launched in 2010. The reusable spaceplane can spend years in orbit, conducting classified activities. So far, it has launched eight times.

REG AD

According to the DIA's report, China's first spaceplane mission launched in 2020 and remained in orbit for two days. A second, launched in 2022, spent 276 days in orbit, and a third, launched in December 2023, spent 268 days in oribt. The last two missions appeared to include approach and rendezvous tests of objects in orbit.

Russia, memorably, had a spaceplane in the ill-fated Buran, which bore an uncanny resemblance to the US Space Shuttle (although the two were very different beasts from a technical perspective – not least, Buran's orbiter did not carry the engines used to launch it to space).

However, according to the DIA's report, Russia "has made little progress since."

The US recently confirmed that it has weapons in space, and it would be naive not to assume rivals would have their own, whether kinetic or some form of jamming technology.

Earlier this month, Russia's Kosmos-2612 sidled up to the US ICEYE-X36 satellite before retreating. It's unclear whether the intention was an entirely innocent look at a fellow spacecraft or a bit of saber-rattling; it certainly worried US lawmakers. ®