U.S. Intel Confirms Satellite Image of China's Secret X-37B-Like Spaceplane

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency has confirmed that a satellite photograph circulating for more than two years depicts China's secretive reusable spaceplane, resolving questions about the identity of a vehicle closely resembling the American X-37B.

The confirmation appears in the DIA's Challenges to Security in Space 2026 report, released on October 26. It includes a higher-resolution version of an image previously shown by a U.S. Space Force officer, providing one of the clearest publicly available views of China's experimental orbital spacecraft.

Joseph Trevithick of The War Zone (TWZ) first detailed the significance of the DIA's confirmation in an October 27 report titled "U.S. Intel Confirms This Is China's Secret Spaceplane."

Satellite Image Resolves Earlier Uncertainty

The photograph, credited to Maxar Technologies, now known as Vantor, dates to 2024 and shows a compact, winged spacecraft operating in orbit.

An earlier, lower-resolution version emerged publicly that year when U.S. Space Force Col. John Patrick, then commander of U.S. Space Forces-Korea, displayed it during the Open Space Forum in South Korea.

Its identity remained uncertain at the time. Neither the Space Force nor Maxar provided clarification when contacted by TWZ.

The DIA has now explicitly identified the object as a Chinese spaceplane.

"A key capability for reusable space activities are spaceplanes like this PRC Spaceplane captured by Maxar. Spaceplanes can launch into orbit to place objects in space or even test them and return to earth," the agency states in its report.

The new image offers a substantially clearer look at the spacecraft's configuration, although the DIA does not identify its specific model.

A Chinese Counterpart to the X-37B

The spacecraft's design bears significant similarities to the U.S. Space Force's Boeing X-37B, an uncrewed reusable orbital vehicle that has conducted eight missions since 2010.

Both feature compact shuttle-like fuselages, short wings and twin vertical tails. The Chinese vehicle appears to have much longer wing chords than the X-37B.

Its payload bay doors are open in the satellite photograph, and a rearward extension is equipped with solar panels deployed on either side.

Two compartments on the spacecraft's underside also appear consistent with a conventional tricycle landing-gear arrangement.

The X-37B program has two known vehicles, with its eighth mission, OTV-8, launched on August 22, 2025.

The DIA distinguishes between two Chinese spaceplane projects without specifying which appears in the photograph.

"China has two primary spaceplane models: the Shenlong and Tengyun," the report states.

Shenlong is commonly associated with China's orbital spacecraft program, which began flight operations in 2020. Images released in 2007 showed an earlier prototype carried beneath a Chinese H-6 bomber.

Tengyun, meanwhile, is a separate two-stage-to-orbit concept unveiled by the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) in 2016. Its proposed architecture uses a carrier aircraft to launch an orbital vehicle.

CASIC previously targeted a flight test in 2025, although whether that milestone was achieved remains unclear.

Four Missions and Growing Orbital Capabilities

China has conducted four known orbital missions involving its reusable experimental spacecraft since September 2020.

All four were launched aboard Long March 2F rockets from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The initial flight began on September 4, 2020, and lasted approximately two days.

A second mission, launched in August 2022, remained in orbit for 276 days and involved proximity operations with another object.

The third flight began on December 14, 2023, and concluded on September 6, 2024, after 268 days. During that mission, the spacecraft deployed multiple smaller objects.

The most recent mission began on February 7, 2026. The spacecraft remains in orbit and has reportedly released at least one accompanying object.

Satellite tracking analyzed by astronomer Jonathan McDowell has also reportedly suggested repeated deployment and retrieval operations involving a companion object.

Such maneuvers are relevant to the development of spacecraft capable of approaching, inspecting or interacting with other orbital assets, as seen when a Russian satellite made a dangerous approach to a U.S. craft in orbit.

China has described its vehicle as an experimental reusable spacecraft intended to validate technology and support the "peaceful use of outer space."

Secretive Landing Facility in Western China

Unlike conventional satellites, China's orbital vehicle is designed to return to Earth for potential reuse.

Previous missions reportedly ended at a heavily expanded military airfield in the Lop Nur region of Xinjiang, in northwestern China.

The installation has a runway measuring approximately 16,400 feet and extensive infrastructure associated with sensitive aerospace operations.

TWZ has compared the facility's secrecy and physical expansion with characteristics of Area 51 in the U.S.

The DIA notes that "spaceplanes are ... reusable and feature enhanced maneuverability, making them more suitable for certain missions than traditional satellites."

Military Implications Extend Beyond Reusability

As TWZ notes, reusable orbital vehicles could support rapid satellite deployment, intelligence collection and close-range operations involving other spacecraft.

The same characteristics could potentially enable attacks against objects already in orbit, amid an intensifying U.S.-China race for orbital supremacy.

However, the satellite photograph itself does not establish that China's spaceplane carries weapons or has conducted offensive operations.

The DIA's latest report, the third edition following assessments in 2019 and 2022, incorporates information available through July 2026.

According to the agency, China's space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance constellation has more than tripled since 2018, reaching more than 510 satellites.

The report also identifies Chinese counterspace capabilities involving electronic jamming, cyber operations, kinetic anti-satellite weapons and systems capable of operating near other spacecraft.

It assesses that Chinese ground-based lasers can interfere with or damage satellites in low Earth orbit and that Beijing could deploy space-based directed-energy systems before the end of the decade. Washington has also confirmed weapons in orbit for the first time after decades of ambiguity.

Broader Push Into Reusable Space Technology

The orbital program forms part of a wider Chinese effort to develop reusable launch and spacecraft systems.

In July 2026, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) recovered a reusable rocket booster at sea. LandSpace subsequently carried out China's first successful land recovery of a reusable booster in August.

Chinese aerospace organizations are also pursuing additional spaceplane concepts, including CASC designs and the Haolong cargo spaceplane proposed by AVIC Chengdu to resupply China's Tiangong space station.

The DIA's identification of the spacecraft in the Maxar photograph provides an unusual public acknowledgment of a program that China has disclosed only in limited detail, even as its full capabilities, payloads and intended missions remain undisclosed.