China's reusable spaceplane ``Shenlong'' may launch six mysterious objects into Earth orbit



It was reported that the reusable space plane ``Shenlong'' launched by China on December 14, 2023 , has placed six mysterious objects into Earth orbit. These objects are being tracked by amateur spacecraft observers and the U.S. Space Force, and are said to emit various signals.

China's space plane apparently deployed 6 'mysterious wingmen' in orbit | Space
https://www.space.com/china-space-plane-depoyed-mystery-objects



China's Spaceplane Just Released Six Mysterious Objects in Orbit
https://gizmodo.com/china-shenlong-space-plane-6-mystery-objects-in-orbit-1851111929

China has been developing reusable spaceplanes for some time, and in 2020 it was reported that a reusable spacecraft returned to Earth after flying in orbit for two days. Details about this reusable space plane have not been disclosed, but it is said that it is called 'Shenron'.

Did China successfully launch and land a ``reusable spacecraft'' - GIGAZINE



Since then, test flights of the reusable spaceplane have continued, and the aircraft was launched in August 2022 and remained in orbit for 276 days, successfully returning to Earth in May 2023. Then, on December 14, 2023, the Long March 2F rocket, which is also used to transport astronauts, will be used to transport astronauts from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center near the border between Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. This was the third successful launch since 2017.

Furthermore, it has been reported that the Shenron that was launched this time put six mysterious objects into orbit around the Earth. The six objects have been named ``Objects A, B, C, D, E, and F'' by the US Department of Defense, and are being tracked by the US Space Force and amateur observers.

Amateur astronomer Scott Tilley analyzed these objects and confirmed that Object A emits a signal similar to objects released by Chinese space planes in the past. Tilly told the space media Space.com, ``The radiation from Object A or its vicinity is similar to the 'wingman' of past Chinese spaceplanes in that the signal is modulated with a limited amount of data. It’s reminiscent of emission.”

In addition, objects D and E are emitting idle 'placeholder signals' that do not have data, and these are intermittent and do not last very long. To obtain this data, Tilly apparently tracked the object for days using a parabolic antenna.



After analyzing these signals, Tilly and his colleagues believe that what is emitting the signals is an object emitted by Shenron, or something in the immediate vicinity of the object. This is because the signal was observed along the object's expected path, no other known objects were seen at the time of data collection, and the signal's modulation pattern was observed in previous Chinese spaceplane missions. It is said that it is based on facts such as matching with things.

Shenron has released mysterious objects in past test flights, and it has been confirmed that the aircraft launched in 2022 released an object into orbit in October. It has been suggested that these objects may be some kind of service module, or an inspection satellite that tracks the spacecraft, or a test module that inserts the object into orbit.

'In summary, China's repeated spaceplane missions have been launched into orbits similar to the previous two, but operationally they have shown different radio behavior than before,' Tilley said. 'Although the additional observations of radiation are new, if they are intermittent they may have been missed by past missions.' In addition, objects D and E are on elliptical orbits, while object A is on an almost circular orbit, and it is said that they will approach each other in the next few days.

The United States is also developing and testing a reusable spaceplane , the X-37B , and its seventh mission is scheduled to take place in December 2023. Regarding China and the United States launching their own reusable spaceplanes at the same time, General Chance Saltzman, the chief of operations for the U.S. Space Force, said at a conference in early December that ``these two objects are the most high-profile objects in orbit.'' ' It 's probably no coincidence that China is trying to match the timing and order to us.'

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