(Central News Agency, Washington, 8th Comprehensive Foreign News Report) The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently released a clear photo showing a Chinese space plane docking with a satellite in space. It is believed to be an image of China's confidential experimental reusable space plane "Shenlong" performing a mission.
Voice of America (VOA) reported that this satellite photo was taken by the US commercial satellite company Vantor (formerly Maxar Technologies) in 2024 and was included in the 2026 version of the "Challenges to Security in Space" report released by the Defense Intelligence Agency on the 26th of last month.
This unclassified report assesses the scope and breadth of threats from hostile forces facing the United States in the space domain, and describes the space defense and military objectives of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, including related strategies, plans, and intentions.
As can be seen from this satellite image, the Chinese unmanned space plane is docking with a satellite with unfolded solar panels, and the payload bay door of the space plane is open.
The Defense Intelligence Agency displayed this photo in a section titled "Key Space Developments Through 2040," which refers to the Reusable Space Vehicle (R-SLV).
The report pointed out that the United States is currently the only country with an operating R-SLV program, and China hopes to become the second such country. "The space launch companies of the People's Republic of China are seeking R-SLV to help Beijing achieve its broader military, civilian and commercial goals in the space field."
In addition to reusable launch vehicles, space planes also offer similar reusability and increased maneuverability, making them more suitable for certain missions than traditional satellites, the report said. "China currently has two main space plane models: 'Shenlong' and 'Tengyun'," the report reads.
According to VOA, this report from the Defense Intelligence Agency describes three missions of the Chinese space plane: the first mission was carried out in 2020 and lasted 2 days; the second mission was launched in August 2022 and operated in orbit for 276 days; the third mission was launched in December 2023 and operated in orbit for 268 days.
Recently, Chinese official media reported that the fourth launch was carried out in February this year.
The report did not specify whether the space plane in the photo was the "Shenlong" or the "Tengyun". However, the outside world generally believes that this space plane launched vertically by the Long March rocket is the reusable unmanned space plane "Shenlong". As for "Tengyun", which China officially calls "Tengyun", which uses relatively new-level launch technology, it is still in an early experimental stage.
Some observers compare the Shenlong to the X-37B, the autonomous, reusable unmanned space fighter developed by Boeing for the US military.
Aviation news website The Aviationist reported that before the Vantor images were made public, the public images available to the outside world were limited to blurry images taken by ground telescopes and computer-generated diagrams with Chinese labels.
David Shedd, the former acting director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, told VOA that the photo released by the Defense Intelligence Agency "highlights that China is actively seeking to enhance its offensive and defensive posture in space."
"These advances by the People's Republic of China in space remind us that the United States must continue to take aggressive action in response to China's significant advances in space capabilities that not only have the potential to, but do, threaten U.S. satellite systems for defense and commercial purposes," he said.
