US military intelligence agency publishes photo of Chinese ‘spaceplane’ in orbit
China’s Shenlong reusable cargo spacecraft has already flown four missions and was documented in orbit by a US satellite imagery company.
The Pentagon’s internal intelligence agency has released an image of a Chinese-made reusable spacecraft in orbit.
The photograph of the Shenlong ‘spaceplane’ was published on 26 October in a report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) exploring space security issues. American private satellite imagery company Vantor (formerly known as Maxar) captured the image in 2024.
The DIA also says China has already flown four Shenlong missions since 2020, logging 546 days in orbit across three initial flights. The fourth Shenlong mission is believed to still be underway, after launching in February 2026.
The 2024 image shows the spacecraft’s ventral fuselage covered by a black heat shield. Two apparent adjacent bays are also visible, presumably housing landing gear, as are parts of its dorsal structure, including a single large vertical stabiliser and apparent clamshell cargo doors located amidships, just forward of the craft’s stub wings.
The white cargo doors appear open, visibly protruding from the main fuselage. An unidentified external module is connected to the Shenlong at its rear-facing aft section, where one would expect to find rocket engine exhaust nozzles on other reusable spacecraft such as the US Space Force’s (USSF) Boeing X-37B or NASA’s retired Rockwell Space Shuttle.
The aft portion of the Shenlong is not visible. Two solar panel arrays are deployed from the module, the purpose of which the DIA report does not address. The module was presumably launched into orbit while connected to the Shenlong. A similar configuration has been used on the US X-37B.
In a caption included with the 2024 Shenlong image, the DIA notes that “spaceplanes can launch into orbit to place objects in space or even test them and return to earth”.
Reusability paradigm
The agency says historic reliance on expendable vehicles has made accessing space “expensive and exclusive”.
“Reusable technologies, while even-more difficult and expensive to develop and build, stand to greatly reduce the cost of spaceflight by recovering, refurbishing and reusing rocket stages, fairings and capsules. The United States is the only country that currently fields an operational reusable space launch vehicle (R-SLV) programme, while Beijing hopes to be the second,” the DIA says.
“[Chinese] space launch enterprises are pursuing R-SLVs to help Beijing meet broader military, civil and commercial space goals. R-SLVs present a more-attractive option for [Chinese] launch companies to achieve the launch rates needed to orbit and sustain multiple satellite-proliferated large constellations,” the agency adds.
The US has logged seven orbital missions with the X-37B, with the eighth currently in progress. Source: US Air Force
Washington’s own reusable space capability has waned significantly since the retirement of the crewed Space Shuttle in 2011. The USSF operates the secretive X-37B on highly classified long-endurance orbital missions, the nature of which are officially described as supporting scientific experiments for government and private industry partners.
There have been seven X-37B missions completed since the type’s first flight in 2010. Boeing has previously confirmed that two vehicles are in use, which had collectively accumulated 4,208 days in orbit when the eighth X-37B mission was launched in August 2025.
AVIC displayed a model of the proposed Haolong reusable space vehicle at the 2024 Zhuhai airshow. Source: Wikipedia Commons
Two private US launch providers also have limited reusable space capability, with the ability to return first-stage rocket boosters to Earth for refuelling and reuse, significantly reducing the cost of launches and increasing the operational tempo.
SpaceX regularly lands its Falcon 9 first stages after carrying satellites to orbit, while rival Blue Origin has proven the capability a handful of times with its New Glenn rocket system. In August, Chinese firm LandSpace demonstrated the ability to land its own Zhuque-3 first stage for reuse.
Russia, the DIA notes, has announced multiple R-SLV projects over the past two decades but “has made little progress since a single test flight of its Buran spaceplane in 1988″.
China’s space strategy
The DIA says China has more than tripled its annual space launches in the past decade, from 22 in 2016 to 93 in 2025.
“China identifies space as a strategic priority for military dominance and political influence,” the agency says. “Beijing views space deterrence as a facet of military deterrence and seeks to employ a wide range of options, including reversible and irreversible counterspace strikes, to maximise its operational effectiveness and flexibility.”
In addition to the Shenlong, China is developing a more-advanced reusable spacecraft dubbed the Haolong-1, which the DIA says is meant to provide low-cost cargo transportation to the crewed Tiangong orbital space station, launched in 2021.
A model of the Haolong craft was displayed by Chinese state-owned aerospace manufacturer AVIC at the 2024 Zhuhai airshow. AVIC secured the design contract for the Haolong programme around that same time.
Read the full US Defense Intelligence Agency report on space security here.
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