China’s Shenlong robotic spaceplane, on its third mission, has added a new layer of intrigue to its space activities by deploying six unidentified objects into Earth’s orbit.
Shenlong, meaning “Divine Dragon,” embarked on its third mission on December 14, successfully deploying six objects into orbit shortly afterward. These objects are currently being tracked by both the U.S. Space Force and amateur observers. The items, which appear to be emitting various signals, have been designated OBJECT A, B, C, D, E, and F by the U.S. Department of Defense (the official NORAD TLE designations are 58573 through to 58577, and 58581).
Scott Tilley, an amateur astronomer and satellite tracker has been closely analyzing these objects and reported his findings to Space.com. OBJECT A, in particular, has been emitting signals reminiscent of “wingman” emissions from past Chinese spaceplane missions. These signals, characterized by limited data modulation, suggest a possible connection to China’s earlier space activities. Interestingly, OBJECTs D and E have been emitting idle “placeholder” signals devoid of data. What’s more, these signals tend to be intermittent and don’t stay on for very long, according to Tilley.
More interesting observations from the Chinese ‘spaceplane’ launch. OBJECT D is also emitting intermittently on S-band using same modulation as OBJECT A. @plugger_lockett in the Perth AU area recorded the data yesterday. 🧵⬇️ pic.twitter.com/iS4CzW3Ti6
— Scott Tilley 🇺🇦 (@coastal8049) December 17, 2023
The unique nature of these signals, particularly their modulation at 2,280 MHz (a frequency previously associated with Chinese space plane missions), and their appearance near the objects’ predicted orbital paths, has led trackers like Tilley to confidently associate these signals with the newly launched objects.
“In summary, this iteration of the Chinese spaceplane mission launched into a similar orbit as the last two but operationally it is exhibiting different radio behavior than before,” Tilley told Space.com “The additional observations of the emissions from OBJECT D and E is new, but could also have been missed on earlier missions if they too were intermittent.”
In the next few days, observers should monitor for close encounters between OBJECT A, in a near-circular orbit, and OBJECTs D and E, which are in elliptical orbits. These objects are expected to come close to each other at their perigee, the nearest point in their orbits, Tilley said.
We’ve seen this sort of thing before. During previous spaceplane missions, in September 2020 and August 2022, Shenlong released similar unknown objects into orbit. Speculation by SpaceNews suggests these objects could be service modules, inspector satellites for tracking the spacecraft, or test items for orbital placement. In November of last year, China’s spaceplane released another mystery object, likely a possible service module to assist with the spacecraft’s return to Earth.
Parallel to China’s activities, the United States operates its own reusable robotic space plane, the Boeing-built X-37B. The U.S. Space Force plans to launch the X-37B aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on December 28, after several delays.