A mysterious Chinese spaceplane has launched an object into orbit – but nobody knows what it is.
The highly guarded plane, which is a “reusable experimental spacecraft”, launched from Jinquan in August, has been in orbit ever since.
But two weeks ago, it opened its doors at the point of orbit closest with Earth and flung a huge object out into space – followed by a second smaller one.
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The object was located by the United States Space Force's 18th Space Defence Squadron, who have been tracking it since it was launched – but they have no idea what it is.
It has been given the really catch name of ORAD ID 54218 (2022-093J COSPAR ID).
Whatever it is, the US Space Force has noticed it is staying close to the spaceplane, but China has remained tight-lipped about the strange occurrence.
And, other than confirming the spaceplane was launched, they haven't given any details about it – including refusing to release images of it.
According to Andrew Jones, a journalist tracking China's space programme, the object could be some kind of camera.
He tweeted: “China's secretive spaceplane is still in orbit following its launch on Thursday.
“The first mission, in Sep. 2020, lasted around two days, so this is already a longer mission this time out.
“Only word from China far is a terse statement of launch.
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“Last time, the spacecraft released an object likely a couple of orbits before re-entry and landing.
“This time, as well as a few pieces of debris and the CZ2F launcher second stage, there are 2 unknown objects also tracked in orbit, possibly camera sats akin to Banxing-2 from TG-2 (sic).”
It had been speculated that the craft could have landed on November 1 – but the landing window was ignored.
It now has the chance to land every 71 hours, but will be doing so in absolute darkness.
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