Media said the unmanned spacecraft returned as planned to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Monday.
No details were provided on what the spacecraft was, the technologies tested and how high it had flown since its launch in early August 2022, and no photos of the vehicle were made public, according to Reuters.
State media said the tests carried out by the spacecraft marked a “significant” breakthrough in Chinese research into reusable spacecraft technology, which will provide a practical and inexpensive method for future space missions.
In 2021, what could be a similar spacecraft took off from the edge of space and returned to Earth the same day for a mission that has also been widely classified.
The vehicle landed on Earth “horizontally”, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the prime contractor for China’s space program.
Chinese social media commentators have speculated that Beijing is developing a spacecraft like the US Air Force’s X-37B, an unmanned space plane that can stay in orbit for years.
The unmanned, reusable X-37B returned to Earth in November last year for its sixth and final mission after more than 900 days in orbit.
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