What we know so far about the X-37B space plane

 


A U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane, encapsulated ahead of a planned May 16, 2020, launch, the sixth mission for the X-37B program. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force)


The X-37B orbital vehicle of the Department of Defense is described in detail.

The uncrewed X-37B spy plane of the United States Department of Defense is one of the most intriguing spaceships in the world, flying frequent covert missions whose intentions are unknown. However, information regarding the ship, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), has surfaced in dribs and drabs throughout the years. Here are ten things that can be claimed with certainty regarding the mysterious spacecraft.

Basic facts are available

As previously reported by Live Science's sister site Space.com, NASA created the reusable X-37B in 1999, which looks like a smaller version of one of NASA's now-retired space shuttles. It is around 29 feet (8.8 metres) in length and 9.5 feet (2.9 metres) in height, with a wingspan of just less than 15 feet (4.6 m). On the launchpad, it weighs 11,000 pounds (4,990 kg).

The X-37B takes off vertically, like the space shuttle, and is propelled by a rocket. It can navigate on its own once in orbit, and it finally lands on a runway on Earth, just like a regular plane. The vehicle features a modest cargo space, about the size of a pickup truck bed, which allows it to transport satellites and equipment. According to its maker, Boeing, it works at an altitude of 150 to 500 miles (240 to 805 kilometres) above Earth.

Different military branches have had it over the years

Space Force now has control over the X-37B space planes. (Image credit: U.S. Space Force)



According to Space.com, NASA delivered two X-37B vehicles to the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2004. According to Military.com, a news and information website for military members, the robotic spy planes were operated by the US Air Force for many years before being transferred to the newly formed Space Force in 2020.

Nobody knows quite what it's up to

A U.S. Air Force X-37B space plane, an unpiloted miniature space shuttle, is seen after landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility on Oct. 27, 2019 to end its record 780-day OTV-5 mission.  (Image credit: U.S. Air Force)



Despite completing six missions, the X-37B's exact mission remains unknown. Surveillance of the Earth's surface from above and the deployment of spy satellites are two possibilities, however nothing has ever been confirmed.

Other possibilities include the possibility that the X-37B is a space-based bomber, a vehicle for spying on the Chinese space station, or a way for the US military to tamper with other countries' satellites. Experts have slammed the door on all of these plans, claiming that they would take a lot of fuel or be too simple to trace back to the US military.

It can remain in space for years

The first of the two X-37Bs was launched in 2010 and spent 224 days in space. Its companion vehicle took to the skies a year later and stayed in orbit for more than twice as long.

The current record for the spacecraft is 780 days in orbit, or more than two years, set during the X-37B's sixth trip. What it was doing all that time up there is still a mystery.

It can launch on a SpaceX rocket

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launches an X-37B space plane on a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on May 17, 2020. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)


While the X-37B has traditionally been launched by United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket, it is capable of being launched by a variety of launchers. In 2017, the military switched things up a little and sent it into orbit using a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

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