Secret X-37B Space Plane Getting Ready For New Mission

The U.S. Air Force is reportedly preparing for the launch of the sixth mission of its mysterious X-37B space plane. Although details of the launch are not yet clear, the experimental spacecraft might try to surpass the duration of its last mission.

The X-37B is an Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) developed by Boeing for the U.S. Air Force. It is capable of launching into space and de-orbiting and landing on the ground like a traditional airplane.

Although the X-37B has been carrying out unmanned orbital test missions since 2010, the specific objective and other details about the robotic aircraft have not been disclosed. Since its development, the U.S Air Force has been very secretive regarding the nature of the X-37B.

X-37B’s last mission, dubbed OTV-5, was launched on Sept. 7, 2017. It returned to Earth on Oct. 27, 2019, after spending a total of 779 days in space. This surpassed the duration of the OTV-4 mission that lasted for 717 days.

For its upcoming unmanned test mission, known as OTV-6, National Interest reported that the U.S. Air Force is preparing to launch the X-37B on May 16. It will be launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida via the Atlas V rocket, a launch vehicle developed by Boeing and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

Currently, it is not yet clear how long X-37B’s sixth mission will last in space. But based on the previous missions, the experimental space plane will most likely try to surpass its current record of spending more than two years in space.

It’s still a mystery how long the U.S. Air Force will continue carrying out test flights for the X-37B or when the space plane will be deployed for an actual mission. In a fact sheet about the aircraft, the military department explained that the purpose of the X-37B is to test technologies related to reusable spacecraft.

“The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold; reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth,” the U.S. Air Force stated.