Nobody knows what an object launched into orbit by a mysterious Chinese spaceplane.
The heavily guarded plane, a “reusable experimental spacecraft,” launched in August from Jinquan and has been in orbit ever since.
But two weeks ago, it opened its doors at the closest point of the orbit to Earth and shot a massive object into space, followed by a smaller one.
The 18th Space Defence Squadron of the United States Space Force tracked the item since it was launched, but they have no idea what it is.
It has been given the catchy name ORAD ID 54218. (2022-093J COSPAR ID).
Whatever it is, the US Space Force has spotted it lingering near the spaceplane, but China has kept silent on the unusual incident.
And, aside from confirming the launch of the spaceplane, they haven’t provided any specifics about it, including refusing to share photographs of it.
According to Andrew Jones, a journalist who follows China’s space programme, the object could be a camera.
“China’s secretive spaceplane is still in orbit following its launch on Thursday,” he tweeted.
“The first mission, in Sep. 2020, lasted around two days, so this is already a longer mission this time out.”
“Only word from China far is a terse statement of launch.”
“Last time, the spacecraft released an object likely a couple of orbits before re-entry and landing.”
“This time, as well as a few pieces of debris and the CZ2F launcher second stage, there are 2 unknown objects also tracked in orbit, possibly camera sats akin to Banxing-2 from TG-2 (sic).”
The craft was expected to land on November 1, but the landing opportunity was missed.
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