[ad_1] A day later than planned, the X-37B space plane has gone back into low Earth orbit for its sixth mission. The vehicle launched aboard a United Launch Alliance rocket on the morning of May 17th. It’s the first X-37B mission under the Space Force’s oversight (though the Air Force still owns the spacecraft) and […]
Category: x-37b
Air Force’s mysterious X-37B space plane heads back to orbit May 16th
[ad_1] While we were only previously given vague hints of what the plane was carrying, the Space Force is more forthright this time around. In its announcement, the military division has revealed that the X-37B’s sixth mission will deploy a small satellite called FalconSat-8 that was developed by the US Air Force Academy. As Gizmodo […]
Air Force’s X-37B space plane lands after record 780 days in orbit
[ad_1] The spacecraft completed “all mission objectives,” according to USAF Rapid Capabilities Office director Randy Walden. Just what those are isn’t clear, though. X-37B payloads are still classified, and officials have typically provided only vague hints of what was aboard. One was a thermal spreader that helped test “experimental electronics” and heat pipe cooling in […]