While SpaceX is postponing the launch of the X-37B unmanned space plane developed by Boeing for the US Air Force, China is not standing still. On December 14, the Long March 2F launch vehicle was launched from the Jiuquan Cosmodrome in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. He launched a secret Chinese device into space.

According to state news agency Xinhua, the space plane named Shenlong entered orbit on its third flight date. This occurred seven months after the previous mission, although much more time had passed between the first and second mission; that is 23 months.

Previously, the Chinese device spent 276 days in orbit and brought an unknown object into orbit last fall, according to the US Space Force. At the time, experts assumed it was either a secret satellite intended to study Shenlun’s flight, or a payload that turned out to be unnecessary anyway.