30 May 2024

China’s secret spacecraft drops another mysterious object in space, says U

Christopher McFadden

According to the U.S. Space Force, China’s unnamed spaceplane appears to have released another object into space. The nature of the object is unknown, but it has been given the name 59884 (International designator 2023-195G).

China’s spaceplane has been in orbit for over 165 days, with the new object being spotted on May 24. The spaceplane first arrived in orbit on December 14, 2023.

Since then, the spaceplane has been orbiting Earth, deploying other strange objects or emitting strange signals. While the nature of the new object is unclear, some, like Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, have some ideas.

China’s spaceplane releases another object

The spaceplane used a released object to perform multiple recaptures as part of on-orbit testing during its second flight.

“A new object (59884/2023-195G) has been cataloged associated with the Chinese CSSHQ spaceplane in a 602 x 608 km x 50.0 deg orbit. It seems to have been ejected about 1900 UTC May 24,” McDowell posted on X.

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