(China航天/Weibo https://bit.ly/3VPRTb2)
The Chinese experimental reusable space plane, which just returned to Earth, launched a small sub-satellite during a six-month stay in orbit.
After that, the vehicle moved away from it several times, approached and captured it again, according to LeoLabs, a space monitoring company.
An unmanned Chinese shuttle, believed to be a counterpart to the US X-37B spaceplane, made its first four-day flight in 2020.
The second flight began in August 2022 and ended on May 8, 2023. It lasted 276 days.
SPACE MANEUVERS
At the end of October 2022, a new object separated from the Chinese ship, which received the number 54218 and the designation Object J in the American NORAD catalog.
This sub-satellite kept close to the spaceplane, at a distance of no more than 200 meters.
The Chinese authorities did not comment on this event, and observers suggested that it could be a service module or an apparatus for monitoring the state of the spaceplane.
According to LeoLabs, the sub-satellite changed its orbit parameters on its own at least five times, that is, it has engines on board.
Also, Object J approached the space plane and docked with it in November-December 2022, in January and February-March 2023 (or maybe the shuttle captured it in some other way).
These maneuvers show that the PRC is using the spaceplane for about the same purposes as the US in the case of the X-37B: to develop new space technologies.
In particular, operations with small vehicles designed to survey or even destroy enemy satellites.
Sources:
- SpaceNews: https://spacenews.com/chinas-spaceplane-conducted-proximity-and-capture-maneuvers-with-subsatellite-data-suggests/
- LeoLabs: https://twitter.com/LeoLabs_Space/status/1655686249586335747?s=20
- Steemit: https://steemit.com/hive-109160/@sarahjay1/the-mysterious-chinese-space-plane-returned-to-earth-after-record-long-flight
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