A U.S. military intelligence agency has released an incredible new photograph of China's secretive space plane, showing it docked to another spacecraft in orbit.
The photograph was taken in 2024 by Vantor's WorldView 3 satellite, from a distance of 56 miles (90 kilometers). Ground-based observers have previously photographed Shenlong in orbit, but this new photo from Vantor, taken from space, reveals new details about the mysterious spacecraft in stunning clarity, with a resolution of 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) per pixel.
In the image, the robotic Shenlong space plane can be seen docked to another satellite that has its solar panels deployed. It's not yet known which satellite that may have been. Shenlong's payload bay doors can also be seen in the photograph, in an open position.
Those payload doors may offer clues about what Shenlong is doing on its fourth mission, which launched in February 2026. China's space agency has stated only that Shenlong helps test technologies that "will pave the way for more convenient and affordable round-trip methods for the peaceful use of space in the future."
But observers have seen Shenlong release other objects while in orbit, such as in June 2026, when American space intelligence company LeoLabs reported that itdetected a new object in the vicinity of the space plane.
"Following additional observations across our global network and analysis via LeoLabs Delta, we have independently cataloged this object and assessed with high confidence that it was released from the Chinese space plane," LeoLabs stated at the time. "This activity is consistent with sub-satellite deployments conducted by the space plane in previous missions."
A similar event happened during Shenlong's third mission, which ended in 2024. On its second mission in 2023, the space plane also released an object and may have conducted what are known as proximity and rendezvous operations, in which two spacecraft maneuver close to one another.
It may have been that the spacecraft was releasing unnecessary hardware before landing, however. Like all things military space, few details have been released to the public about Shenlong's operations.
The United States, similarly, operates a secretive robotic space plane, the Boeing-built X-37B, and rarely releases concrete details about its capabilities or its missions. In February 2025, the U.S. Space Force released its first photo of the X-37B in space, offering a rare glimpse at the space plane in operation. The photo appeared to show it in a high Earth orbit with what appear to be its payload bay doors open.
In 2023, Space Force released its first official painting, depicting an X-37B-like space plane in orbit above Earth, intercepting another satellite.
With China and the United States currently jockeying for the lead in what many observers have called a new Space Race, rare glimpses like these images may be a way of militaries and intelligence agencies of teasing capabilities without fully revealing them to the public.
