A Chinese experimental spacecraft, currently in Earth orbit, recently released an unknown object, raising more unanswered questions regarding the ongoing tests of the reusable vehicle. China’s spaceplane, dubbed Shenlong (or Divine Dragon), launched on February 7 for its fourth orbital mission. On Monday, space surveillance firm LeoLabs detected an unknown object in the vicinity of the spaceplane. The object was first observed by LeoLabs’ Kiwi Space Radar in New Zealand and later confirmed as having been deployed by the spaceplane. “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 spaceplane,” LeoLabs wrote on X. At 02:30 UTC on 22 June 2026, LeoLabs detected an unknown object in the vicinity of the Chinese Shenlong reusable spaceplane. This object did not correlate to any other object in our catalog. It was first observed by our Tracker radar in New Zealand. pic.twitter.com/AEf4gbyJPr — LeoLabs (@LeoLabs_Space) June 22, 2026 Mystery plane, mystery object The Chinese spaceplane first made its orbital debut in 2020, launching for a brief, two-day mission before landing back at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert. The spacecraft’s follow-up missions lasted for a significantly longer time in orbit. The spaceplane launched in August 2022 and spent 276 days in Earth orbit, and then again in December 2023 for a 268-day-long mission.