After nine months in orbit, China’s mysterious space plane has landed for the second time, making the nation one of the few entities to successfully launch and recover a reusable spacecraft.
“The complete success of this experiment marks a significant breakthrough in our country’s research on reusable spacecraft technology,” Xinhua, a Chinese state media agency, reported earlier this month.
[COLOR=rgb(184, 49, 47)]According to the CSIS report, the craft released an “object” into orbit sometime in October. The object apparently disappeared in January, only to suddenly reappear on satellite tracking radar in March. Experts believe this could indicate that the plane has some sort of satellite removal capability, such as a robotic arm. If that’s the case, then the plane’s primary purpose might be to repair damaged satellites or remove orbital debris. However, this does not rule out military capabilities — either for the Chinese plane or for the X-37B. Until more details come out, however, the best we can do is speculate.