For years, China’s secretive spaceplane has flown through Earth orbit as a shadowy figure, releasing unidentified objects and pulling off some strange maneuvers. Now, a newly released high-resolution photograph gives us our clearest look yet at the mysterious spacecraft—one of China’s most guarded spaceflight endeavors.

The image was taken in 2024 by a commercial imaging satellite owned by Maxar Technologies, which specializes in geospatial intelligence. It was then quietly released by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in its latest unclassified report titled “Challenges to Security in Space.”

Compared to previous glimpses of China’s spaceplane in orbit, the new photo finally gives us a detailed view of the experimental vehicle’s design, which appears quite similar to the U.S.…