A New US Image of China’s Shenlong Spaceplane Reveals an Open Bay—But Does It Prove Beijing Is Copying the X-37B?
The DIA included a high-resolution 2024 image of China’s reusable spaceplane in a new report. It shows open payload doors and a nearby spacecraft, but not what the mission was doing.
A newly released US intelligence image offers an unusually clear look at China’s reusable Shenlong spaceplane in orbit. The photograph, captured by a commercial satellite in 2024 and included in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s new space-security report, appears to show the vehicle’s payload bay doors open and another spacecraft attached or nearby. The image gives analysts a rare view of the craft’s shape. It does not reveal what was inside the bay or prove the exact purpose of the mission.
What the image shows
The image was taken by a Maxar satellite, now operated by Vantor, at close range in orbit. The spacecraft has a winged, shuttle-like design and features that resemble the US Space Force’s X-37B, including a central payload bay. The comparison is visually striking, but “looks similar” is not the same as proof that China copied the US vehicle. Both programs reflect the engineering challenge of making a spacecraft that can launch, operate in orbit and return to Earth.
The photo was taken in May 2024, but a higher-resolution version was included in the DIA’s 2026 report. A lower-resolution image had circulated previously. The report identifies the vehicle as a Chinese spaceplane and describes spaceplanes as capable of placing objects in orbit, testing them and returning to Earth. The open bay is visible; its contents are not.
What Shenlong may be doing
China has said the program tests technologies for more convenient and affordable round trips to space. Observers have tracked objects released during earlier missions and close approaches between spacecraft. That could involve experiments with satellite deployment, inspection, rendezvous or disposal of hardware. Analysts have also warned that such capabilities could have military applications.
Those possibilities should not be collapsed into a claim that the spaceplane is a weapon. There is no public evidence from this image that Shenlong carried a weapon, interfered with another satellite or conducted a specific military operation. The US X-37B is also a classified reusable spacecraft, and the US releases limited detail about its missions. Both countries operate secretive systems while criticizing the other’s orbital activity.
Why the image matters
Space is increasingly important for communications, navigation, missile warning and military coordination. Reusable vehicles can remain in orbit for extended periods, change orbits, deploy payloads and return to Earth. Those capabilities create uncertainty because other operators may not know whether a vehicle is observing, testing, servicing or threatening satellites.
A photograph can therefore serve two purposes: intelligence and signaling. The DIA’s report provides evidence of a Chinese system while framing it as part of a growing security challenge. Releasing the image may inform allies and demonstrate that the US can monitor China’s space operations. Beijing may regard the publication as revealing sensitive activity, even though the image was captured by a commercial satellite.
What remains unknown
The image does not disclose the payload, command link, maneuver history or exact role of the second object. It also does not establish whether the craft’s design is derived from the X-37B or developed independently. More information could come from tracking data, future imagery, Chinese mission statements or observed satellite releases.
Are these vehicles primarily science platforms, military testbeds or both? Dual-use technology makes that question hard to answer from an image alone. The strongest conclusion is narrower: China operates a reusable spaceplane with an open bay and orbital maneuvering capability, while the United States has released a rare image that sharpens—but does not settle—the debate over what it is doing.
The wider question
The US report’s release also reflects a familiar pattern in intelligence competition: governments reveal selected information to support a threat assessment while retaining most operational detail. That does not make the photograph misleading, but readers should ask what the image can and cannot establish. An open bay is evidence of configuration at one moment, not a complete record of what was carried before or after. The attachment of a second spacecraft could be a servicing or proximity operation, but its identity and purpose remain uncertain. China’s space program deserves scrutiny, as does the US program. A consistent standard would examine the capabilities of both rather than assume one side’s secret vehicle is benign and the other’s hostile.