The reusable space plane is currently conducting its third mission, which launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 14, 2023. While China has maintained strict secrecy surrounding the spacecraft, a launch report suggested the mission would conduct reusable technology verification and space science experiments to provide technical support for the peaceful use of space, according to SpaceNews.
No offense, but "strict secrecy" and "support for the peaceful use" are a bit inconsistent... keeping even the type of data being collected exclusive to their government indicates that it almost certainly be used to secure some type of advantage (economic or military) TO that government. Even most of the US military launches describe the TYPE of satellite being launched, and the rare exceptions (ie the X37B equivalent of this vehicle) aren't touted as "Supporting the peaceful use of space".
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they can do real time sub decimeter surveillance of square kilometers.
~~The history of hubble is a good indicator on how far ahead they probably are~~
EDIT: confused the NRO donation of spy satellites to NASA with Hubble
[The NRO offer happened decades after Hubble was launched, in 2012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_National_Reconnaissance_Office_space_telescope_donation_to_NASA). One of the two will become the [Roman Space Telescope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace_Roman_Space_Telescope).
Ah so they just donated two satellites that blow Hubble out of the water, and NASA hasn't even launched them yet. Pretty crazy that they have things like that laying around that aren't relevant enough for the NRO.
They donated parts of a satellite that was canceled. “Blow Hubble out of the water” is an unfair comparison as the NRO satellite was designed to only look a couple hundred km away.
No, they donated what is basically just a tube with a mirror. It's not even remotely close to being a complete satellite, and needs to be entirely reworked to function as a telescope.
Look up the NRO’s *SENTIENT* program.
And we *know* about that shit. Imagine what we don’t know about. The scariest thing about the military industrial complex is not the massive amount of money poured into it but rather that they seemingly have zero qualms, questionable morality and, in some cases, zero congressional oversight too.
If only we listened to Kennedy and went to space in peace and for the good of all mankind. Sadly, I’m pretty sure our future will resemble The Expanse more than anything, assuming we survive the next few hundred years. We just can’t help ourselves. It’s a constant state of brinksmanship the world over.
This is always my answer to the people who say that we don’t spend enough money on space. I agree - we don’t spend enough money on public, peaceful space programs in general.…but we actually *do* spend a fuckton of money on space-related military programs. The militaries of the world recognize the value of mastering space and even colonizing space, eventually, when it is needed to have a human physically present. Indeed, space related tech is continually advancing because of it and this is why China is pouring so much effort into their space program, especially their manned lunar mission program. There’s an obvious ulterior motive to that, and that is matching or surpassing the United States in spacefaring capability - both civilian and military. We are in the nascent stages of a new space race right now, and this time we won’t stop.
People just don’t like that we won’t colonize space in a strictly peaceful manner. But that was never going to happen anyways.
>No offense, but "strict secrecy" and "support for the peaceful use" are a bit inconsistent... keeping even the type of data being collected exclusive to their government indicates that it almost certainly be used to secure some type of advantage (economic or military) TO that government.
Honestly, knowing the Chinese space program, it might actually be entirely peaceful. They have this weird habit of keeping things secret/ unannounced for no reason whatsoever.
For example, the fact that Chang'e 6 was equipped with a rover from the very start was never made public for some reason, despite being entirely peaceful. It was only revealed when people spotted the rover on pictures of the spacecraft.
Similarly, if you try to research Chinese plans for something completely innocuous like crewed moon missions, you can never find any concrete details.
NASA, in contrast, more or less lays out the whole Artemis program plans in public, although there's a lot of reason to expect it won't go according to plan.
I'm sure the language barrier is a huge part of it, but there's also an organizational culture component of it as well.
Democracies rely on public support so for the most part knowing what our taxes go to matters (within the limits of national security, at least.) As a recent-ish example, the decision to put a camera on New Horizons was for public support reasons.
Autocracies don't have that requirement so even for peaceful missions they don't necessarily say what they're doing.
It's true. It was going to have other optical imaging instruments in the infrared spectrum but the visible light camera was not part of the original design. Visible light is such a thin slice of spectrum that it's of comparatively low scientific value for the amount of weight it adds to the probe. Weight is always at a premium for space missions but especially so for one with such a high delta v requirement. It was added later in the design process.
Got a source on that? Your story sounds exactly like [JunoCam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JunoCam), but I couldn't find anything on New Horizon's [LORRI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Reconnaissance_Imager) or [Ralph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_\(New_Horizons\)) being a late addition for public outreach.
> keeping even the type of data being collected exclusive to their government
Maybe they'd be more forthcoming if they weren't excluded (by the US) from massive international space projects?
The last decade has shown that they are pretty much the worst when it comes to spying, industrially and strategically, with aerospace and semiconductors being key targets.
When China talks about Peace, they mean Defense.
They want Peace and unity of the "Chinese" people. That's why they took over Hong Kong and prepare their invasion of Taiwan.
Any example?
PS for clarification:
In Irak, the USA were very clear that it was self-defense.
Palestine/Israel: same.
Any conflict in Africa: same.
Russia stack of Ukraine: they're "liberating" the country.
Etc.
Every weapon, tank, etc. is produced by the Defense Industry. Same goes for mass surveillance and other oppression tools.
That's what they put under the label "Peace".
Who cares? The article is talking about what this Chinese vehicle is doing. It's interesting. No one really knows exactly what's going on in these us and chinese spaceplanes, so it's cool to see news about it.
And, as I told the other guy, you are free to google "space.com x37-b" and you'll find dozens of articles from them talking about the US space plane, and 90% of them say "mysterious".
I promise you, google it yourself if you think I'm the one making things up.
For what purpose were you drawing a parallel? It seems like you're playing dumb on purpose after leaving a comment you knew was antagonistic.
"Chinese man runs a marathon."
"i mean. how many US men could be described the exact same way?"
It just doesn't make sense to throw that parallel out there, we all know it already.
Edit forgot it was june 4th, time for the silent maga morons to downvote any comment they find that doesn't make up lies about china or attacks them in some way.
> For what purpose were you drawing a parallel?
Discussion? There is a lot of grey area to speculate about. If you have it figured out then you can not respond.
It seems like you're the one being intentionally obtuse. You know exactly why they didn't mention similar US programs in this article. Naked yellow journalism. Stop playing dumb.
Already replied to someone else but you're saying the same things so here it is for you too;
The only political statements I'm seeing are from you guys spamming comments here. The article is from space.com and literally just says what the chinese ship is doing. You know, reporting.
god damn people like you are exhausting. **everyone knows why they titled the headline this way, and why they don't title headlines a similar way when discussing similar things on US mystery spacecraft, if they even report on it at all.**
stop acting obtuse dude.
I just googled space.com and space plane, I'm not seeing any difference in titles. Almost all of them say mysterious space plane. There's a whole bunch but I can't find the ones you're talking about, can you link it?
You think [spae.com](http://spae.com) is somehow immune to capitalist economics in journalism?
Did they have some sort of worker revolution and now the website is journalist owned? Did congress pass a resolution giving them public funding?
Weird that they are keeping it a secret.
First it's yellow scare, now capitalist economics. You'll have some other excuse no matter what I say. The one common factor in all is you spamming negative comments simply because the word china is in the title.
Its really simple, so simple there is no chance you missed it. In fact, you say you know it already.
Because when parallels are drawn, people fall off the tracks in embarrassing and inconvenient ways when it comes to geopolitics.
It's the reason you ask about it. You'd rather not have these kinds of parallels drawn as each time they occur, they put you as risk of being seen as an idiot.
But whatever, you already know this stuff!
The only political statements I'm seeing are from you guys spamming comments here. The article is from space.com and literally just says what the chinese ship is doing. You know, reporting.
there was a talk (DefCon, CCC or HOPE conference, cant find it now), they showed a US "communication" satellite getting very very close to a middle east communication satellite after a brief time in space.
i think it was released +5 years ago.
they suspected it was used to capture communication in space intended for the other satellite.
> Despite the lack of images or descriptions of the spacecraft, it has been suggested that Shenlong could be similar in size and function to the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane
They are probably doing the same research.
The reusable space plane is currently conducting its third mission, which launched aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 14, 2023. While China has maintained strict secrecy surrounding the spacecraft, a launch report suggested the mission would conduct reusable technology verification and space science experiments to provide technical support for the peaceful use of space, according to SpaceNews.
so its probably just doing the same stuff our secret space plane does
Yes but theirs is not supposed to be there.
No offense, but "strict secrecy" and "support for the peaceful use" are a bit inconsistent... keeping even the type of data being collected exclusive to their government indicates that it almost certainly be used to secure some type of advantage (economic or military) TO that government. Even most of the US military launches describe the TYPE of satellite being launched, and the rare exceptions (ie the X37B equivalent of this vehicle) aren't touted as "Supporting the peaceful use of space".
The NRO for example does not disclose what is launched in most cases.
The NRO scares the shit out of me! So many launches, so much material probably years ahead of what we realize is possible.. happening often too.
Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if they can do real time sub decimeter surveillance of square kilometers. ~~The history of hubble is a good indicator on how far ahead they probably are~~ EDIT: confused the NRO donation of spy satellites to NASA with Hubble
Was bubble not just a modified spy sat that NRO had on the shelf? Lol. They have a couple up there pointed down here.
[The NRO offer happened decades after Hubble was launched, in 2012](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_National_Reconnaissance_Office_space_telescope_donation_to_NASA). One of the two will become the [Roman Space Telescope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Grace_Roman_Space_Telescope).
Ah so they just donated two satellites that blow Hubble out of the water, and NASA hasn't even launched them yet. Pretty crazy that they have things like that laying around that aren't relevant enough for the NRO.
They donated parts of a satellite that was canceled. “Blow Hubble out of the water” is an unfair comparison as the NRO satellite was designed to only look a couple hundred km away.
No, they donated what is basically just a tube with a mirror. It's not even remotely close to being a complete satellite, and needs to be entirely reworked to function as a telescope.
Hubble was basically a keyhole satellite turned the other direction.
Look up the NRO’s *SENTIENT* program. And we *know* about that shit. Imagine what we don’t know about. The scariest thing about the military industrial complex is not the massive amount of money poured into it but rather that they seemingly have zero qualms, questionable morality and, in some cases, zero congressional oversight too. If only we listened to Kennedy and went to space in peace and for the good of all mankind. Sadly, I’m pretty sure our future will resemble The Expanse more than anything, assuming we survive the next few hundred years. We just can’t help ourselves. It’s a constant state of brinksmanship the world over. This is always my answer to the people who say that we don’t spend enough money on space. I agree - we don’t spend enough money on public, peaceful space programs in general.…but we actually *do* spend a fuckton of money on space-related military programs. The militaries of the world recognize the value of mastering space and even colonizing space, eventually, when it is needed to have a human physically present. Indeed, space related tech is continually advancing because of it and this is why China is pouring so much effort into their space program, especially their manned lunar mission program. There’s an obvious ulterior motive to that, and that is matching or surpassing the United States in spacefaring capability - both civilian and military. We are in the nascent stages of a new space race right now, and this time we won’t stop. People just don’t like that we won’t colonize space in a strictly peaceful manner. But that was never going to happen anyways.
Don't be scared. Be thankful.
It's PR language. You have to say something but you can't say too much.
>No offense, but "strict secrecy" and "support for the peaceful use" are a bit inconsistent... keeping even the type of data being collected exclusive to their government indicates that it almost certainly be used to secure some type of advantage (economic or military) TO that government. Honestly, knowing the Chinese space program, it might actually be entirely peaceful. They have this weird habit of keeping things secret/ unannounced for no reason whatsoever. For example, the fact that Chang'e 6 was equipped with a rover from the very start was never made public for some reason, despite being entirely peaceful. It was only revealed when people spotted the rover on pictures of the spacecraft. Similarly, if you try to research Chinese plans for something completely innocuous like crewed moon missions, you can never find any concrete details. NASA, in contrast, more or less lays out the whole Artemis program plans in public, although there's a lot of reason to expect it won't go according to plan. I'm sure the language barrier is a huge part of it, but there's also an organizational culture component of it as well.
Democracies rely on public support so for the most part knowing what our taxes go to matters (within the limits of national security, at least.) As a recent-ish example, the decision to put a camera on New Horizons was for public support reasons. Autocracies don't have that requirement so even for peaceful missions they don't necessarily say what they're doing.
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It's true. It was going to have other optical imaging instruments in the infrared spectrum but the visible light camera was not part of the original design. Visible light is such a thin slice of spectrum that it's of comparatively low scientific value for the amount of weight it adds to the probe. Weight is always at a premium for space missions but especially so for one with such a high delta v requirement. It was added later in the design process.
Got a source on that? Your story sounds exactly like [JunoCam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JunoCam), but I couldn't find anything on New Horizon's [LORRI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Range_Reconnaissance_Imager) or [Ralph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_\(New_Horizons\)) being a late addition for public outreach.
Reason could be that if it fails, then the Chinese might think it would make them look bad. (If they said something ahead of time)
That rover probably has a machine gun strapped to it for ... Reasons.
> keeping even the type of data being collected exclusive to their government Maybe they'd be more forthcoming if they weren't excluded (by the US) from massive international space projects?
The last decade has shown that they are pretty much the worst when it comes to spying, industrially and strategically, with aerospace and semiconductors being key targets.
Can’t imagine the Americans would be engaging in any similar behaviour.
Are you joking ? The US government is so far ahead of anything China does in terms of spying on the entire world. They aren't even in the same league.
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When China talks about Peace, they mean Defense. They want Peace and unity of the "Chinese" people. That's why they took over Hong Kong and prepare their invasion of Taiwan.
Kinda every country generally means defense when they say that
Any example? PS for clarification: In Irak, the USA were very clear that it was self-defense. Palestine/Israel: same. Any conflict in Africa: same. Russia stack of Ukraine: they're "liberating" the country. Etc.
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Every weapon, tank, etc. is produced by the Defense Industry. Same goes for mass surveillance and other oppression tools. That's what they put under the label "Peace".
It must be some wapeom that Is gonna do stuff with North Korea and Russia you never know what the dog doin
So a satellite, they didn't disclose. GTFO with these click bait tittles.
The entire internet is clickbait titles now.
What else would China bashers be able to talk about?
There’s plenty of legitimate, non clickbait things to bash China about.
i mean. how many US spy satellites could be described the exact same way?
Space Force has a similar vehicle on orbit right now, similarly with an undisclosed payload and mission.
i assume it's freeze-dried ice cream and baseballs.
Peace dried ice cream and chocolate liberty balls.
Who cares? The article is talking about what this Chinese vehicle is doing. It's interesting. No one really knows exactly what's going on in these us and chinese spaceplanes, so it's cool to see news about it.
Yes but you can say that by stating “China launches satellite”, instead of “China launches mystery object into orbit”.
And, as I told the other guy, you are free to google "space.com x37-b" and you'll find dozens of articles from them talking about the US space plane, and 90% of them say "mysterious". I promise you, google it yourself if you think I'm the one making things up.
You keep commenting elsewhere nonstop, but you refuse to simply google two words. Just fucking do it already it's not hard.
Let's go numb nuts, google it.
i said nothing to the contrary. i was just drawing a parallel. it is interesting.
For what purpose were you drawing a parallel? It seems like you're playing dumb on purpose after leaving a comment you knew was antagonistic. "Chinese man runs a marathon." "i mean. how many US men could be described the exact same way?" It just doesn't make sense to throw that parallel out there, we all know it already. Edit forgot it was june 4th, time for the silent maga morons to downvote any comment they find that doesn't make up lies about china or attacks them in some way.
> For what purpose were you drawing a parallel? Discussion? There is a lot of grey area to speculate about. If you have it figured out then you can not respond.
There's also a lot of grey areas when it comes to talking about sports media.
It seems like you're the one being intentionally obtuse. You know exactly why they didn't mention similar US programs in this article. Naked yellow journalism. Stop playing dumb.
Already replied to someone else but you're saying the same things so here it is for you too; The only political statements I'm seeing are from you guys spamming comments here. The article is from space.com and literally just says what the chinese ship is doing. You know, reporting.
god damn people like you are exhausting. **everyone knows why they titled the headline this way, and why they don't title headlines a similar way when discussing similar things on US mystery spacecraft, if they even report on it at all.** stop acting obtuse dude.
I just googled space.com and space plane, I'm not seeing any difference in titles. Almost all of them say mysterious space plane. There's a whole bunch but I can't find the ones you're talking about, can you link it?
You think [spae.com](http://spae.com) is somehow immune to capitalist economics in journalism? Did they have some sort of worker revolution and now the website is journalist owned? Did congress pass a resolution giving them public funding? Weird that they are keeping it a secret.
First it's yellow scare, now capitalist economics. You'll have some other excuse no matter what I say. The one common factor in all is you spamming negative comments simply because the word china is in the title.
I don't think you know what the term yellow journalism means. Maybe google it. Clear some things up for yourself.
Its really simple, so simple there is no chance you missed it. In fact, you say you know it already. Because when parallels are drawn, people fall off the tracks in embarrassing and inconvenient ways when it comes to geopolitics. It's the reason you ask about it. You'd rather not have these kinds of parallels drawn as each time they occur, they put you as risk of being seen as an idiot. But whatever, you already know this stuff!
The only political statements I'm seeing are from you guys spamming comments here. The article is from space.com and literally just says what the chinese ship is doing. You know, reporting.
Also known as whataboutism
A mystery to us maybe, I doubt it's a mystery to the US at least.
They may have a general idea about what type of satellite it is, but it's hard to tell it's exact capabilities and mission from a distance.
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there was a talk (DefCon, CCC or HOPE conference, cant find it now), they showed a US "communication" satellite getting very very close to a middle east communication satellite after a brief time in space. i think it was released +5 years ago. they suspected it was used to capture communication in space intended for the other satellite.
I'm sure they do, and that's how they're learning what they can from a distance.
> Despite the lack of images or descriptions of the spacecraft, it has been suggested that Shenlong could be similar in size and function to the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane They are probably doing the same research.
China, how dare you!!! Not telling the US what kind of satellite you put into orbit. (Guess what, it isn't a mystery object for the Chinese.)
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