X-37B orbital test vehicle concludes sixth successful mission
A mysterious military spacecraft has returned from nearly two-and-a-half years of continuously orbiting the planet, setting a new record in the process.
The Boeing X-37B spaceplane landed Saturday morning at Kennedy Space Center in Florida after spending 908 days in space, breaking its previous mark of 780 days. This was the sixth mission for the uncrewed vehicle operated by the US Space Force and Air Force jointly.
As it returned for landing at 5:22 a.m. ET, residents up and down Florida’s coast reported hearing the sonic boom generated during the vehicle’s re-entry.
“The X-37B continues to push the boundaries of experimentation,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, an X-37B Program Director for the Air Force. “The ability to conduct on-orbit experiments and bring them home safely for in-depth analysis on the ground has proven valuable for the Department of the Air Force and scientific community.”
This mission, known as OTV-6, featured a new service module attached to the vehicle for the first time that allowed for more experiments to be flown. The module was disconnected from the X37-B before re-entry and will be disposed of later, which likely means it will be de-orbited and burn up in the atmosphere.
Among the experiments conducted was a successful effort to capture solar power in space that could then be transmitted to the ground for use. The X37-B also deployed a special satellite in October 2021 for use by Air Force Academy cadets during training.
OTV-6 also carried experiments for NASA involving exposing different materials and seeds to the unique conditions and environment found in space.
The X37-B was more heavily cloaked in secrecy during its previous missions. It’s likely we still don’t know all of its on-orbit activities during OTV-6, but this is the most revealed about one of these missions and its experiments in memory.
The landing comes as China is beginning to develop its own secret spaceplane program. A similiar, smaller craft was launched in August and has been circling our planet for a few months now, far longer than its previous flight of just two days.
