{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreicgkazlrmrulq2hprssb4invvfhlcr6s3rbj32ymgqk6yrp5m4dri",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpg53pjh5rs2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiap3ahrr3e7ubii5bvcf6z3foivq32awjgmyzitife62ffhagxdhu"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/png",
    "size": 93564
  },
  "path": "/news/world/china-release-unidentified-object-into-orbit-from-space-plane",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-29T08:14:22.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Britons urged to look up next week to witness rare celestial event not due again until 2043",
    "Astronomers pinpoint two giant ‘superpuff’ planets - bigger than Jupiter but lighter than candyfloss",
    "Scientists pick up two blasts from object in deep space unlike anything seen before",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nAn American space surveillance firm has detected China's highly classified Reusable Experimental Spacecraft deploying an unknown object into Earth's orbit.\n\nLeo Labs, which operates a global network of tracking stations, identified the mysterious release using radar equipment based in New Zealand.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe company announced on X that at 2.30am on June 22, its systems picked up \"an unknown object in the vicinity of the Chinese Shenlong reusable space plane\".\n\nFollowing further monitoring across multiple facilities, Leo Labs stated it had \"independently catalogued this object and assessed with high confidence that it was released from the Chinese space plane\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe firm noted this behaviour matches sub-satellite deployments observed during the spacecraft's earlier missions.\n\nChinese officials have offered no comment regarding the craft's purpose or the nature of the released object.\n\nProfessor Jonathan McDowell, from Durham University's Space Research Centre, confirmed the object has been recorded by the American Space Force, though its exact nature remains unclear.\n\nSpeaking to the Daily Mail, Professor McDowell said: \"It's hard to say at the moment, it might just be a cubesat (a small satellite commonly used to conduct research), but it could be a very small spy satellite - nothing fancy.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHe added: \"Previous things ejected from earlier flights of the space plane have not manoeuvred or done anything particularly interesting.\"\n\nThis pattern indicates the spacecraft is likely being used for experimental purposes and technology testing rather than operational missions, according to Professor McDowell.\n\nHe suggested that observing whether the space plane subsequently retrieves the satellite using a robotic arm would provide more significant insights into its capabilities.\n\nThe Reusable Experimental Spacecraft ranks among the China National Space Administration's most tightly guarded programmes, with virtually no confirmed details about its construction or function.\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:\n\n\n\n\n  * Britons urged to look up next week to witness rare celestial event not due again until 2043\n  * Astronomers pinpoint two giant ‘superpuff’ planets - bigger than Jupiter but lighter than candyfloss\n  * Scientists pick up two blasts from object in deep space unlike anything seen before\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nExperts believe it resembles America's secretive X-37 vehicle or NASA's retired space shuttle, though no official photographs exist beyond a handful of digital renderings.\n\nAmateur astronomer Felix Schöfbänker captured the only publicly available images using a ground-based telescope, revealing in 2024 that the craft featured solar panels absent from any official depictions.\n\nThe spacecraft has now completed three previous missions, accumulating approximately 500 days in orbit, and has demonstrated a pattern of unusual activity.\n\nObservers have documented the craft performing rendezvous and proximity operations, manoeuvres involving approaching other objects as closely as possible.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nWhile such operations serve legitimate purposes like satellite refuelling and repairs, growing concerns exist that China, the United States, and Russia are developing spacecraft capable of disrupting enemy satellites.\n\nPotential hostile applications include forcing spy satellites out of their orbits, reorienting communication satellites away from their targets, or physically seizing spacecraft using robotic arms.\n\nThe US Space Force is widely believed to be advancing its own proximity operations capabilities, having commissioned artwork depicting a space plane intercepting a satellite as its inaugural official image.\n\nRussia has similarly intensified its space warfare research, with two of its inspector satellites passing within three metres of each other in May.\n\nProfessor McDowell suggested China's pursuit of such technology may have been spurred by American developments in the same field, though whether the Reusable Experimental Spacecraft serves peaceful or military purposes remains impossible to determine.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**\n**\n\n**\n**\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "China caught releasing 'unidentified object' into orbit from secretive space plane"
}