Shenlong

Shenlong is the name commonly attached to China's uncrewed reusable experimental spacecraft, a vehicle that has flown four orbital missions since 2020 and returns to a runway landing. The main contractor is the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Almost nothing about the vehicle has been published: there are no official photographs, no released dimensions and no described configuration, so most of what can be stated about it comes from launch and landing announcements rather than from any technical disclosure.

What is confirmed and what is not

Confirmed by Chinese state announcements, as reported by allowed sources, are the launches and landings themselves and a small number of general statements. Xinhua described the craft after its first mission as an important breakthrough in reusable spacecraft research that would offer convenient and low-cost round-trip transport for the peaceful use of space. A 2017 announcement said a future vehicle would fly into the sky like an aircraft. The flights used Long March 2F rockets from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, and the recorded landings were at Lop Nur.

Not confirmed is essentially everything an entry like this would normally list. No length, wingspan, mass, payload capacity, propulsion type or power system has been released. The vehicle has never been officially photographed or described, and observers have only inferred a possible shape from ground-based imagery and from comparisons with other spaceplanes. Even the name is uncertain: Shenlong, meaning divine dragon, is widely used, but reference sources note that Shenlong properly denotes a separate Chinese spaceplane programme, and that the craft flying these missions has no announced designation, which is why the informal label CSSHQ also circulates. All spec fields in this entry are left empty for that reason.

Programme status

The first mission launched on 4 September 2020 and landed two days later, on 6 September 2020, on runway 05 at Lop Nur. The orbit was recorded at roughly 332 by 348 km, inclined 50.2 degrees, with a period of about 90 minutes.

The second mission launched on 4 August 2022 and landed on 8 May 2023 after 276 days. During that flight the spacecraft was observed to raise its orbit on 25 August 2022 to a near-circular path of about 597 by 608 km, showing an ability to manoeuvre substantially once on orbit.

The third mission launched on 14 December 2023 and landed on 6 September 2024. Aviation Week recorded it as the third successful flight, at 268 days, bringing the programme total to around 545 days in orbit.

A fourth mission launched on 7 February 2026. As of the sources consulted for this entry it had not been announced as landed, and no details of its payload or objectives have been published.

FAQ

Is it flying today? A fourth mission launched in February 2026 and no landing had been announced at the time this entry was compiled.

How many people does it carry? None. Every announced mission has been uncrewed.