Earth as seen in the first on-orbit photo released by the X-37B (left); the space plane prepares for its seventh mission, which launched on Dec. 28, 2023. (Image credit: US Space Force)The United States Space Force recently provided a rare look of its mysterious X-37B spaceplane in orbit.
The photo, released on Thursday (Feb. 20), was obtained by a camera onboard the X-37B while it orbited far above Africa. On the left side of the snap, one of the plane's solar panels can be seen, and along the top edge, there looks to be an open payload area. The vehicle has been in orbit for more than a year, having launched on its seventh mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket on December 28, 2023.
And now, the Space Force has released this shot, the first public image of the X-37B in orbit. While the photo provides few clues about the spacecraft and what it is now testing, it does show Earth far in the distance, demonstrating how high the aircraft is flying on its seventh journey.
Before now, we'd only seen the X-37B in space once. During the webcast of its most recent launch, there was a brief glimpse of the spacecraft detaching from Falcon Heavy's upper stage while its service module was still attached.
During the final stages of the X-37B's current mission, the U.S. Space Force announced that the flight would "include operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA," according to a Space Force statement.
This image shows that the spacecraft is currently operating far farther from Earth than it was during previous X-37B missions, which were conducted in low Earth orbit. The Falcon Heavy from SpaceX can carry cargo into geosynchronous orbit, which is more than 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above Earth.
When Space Force and Boeing, the aircraft's manufacturer, announced that they would be attempting a new "aerobraking maneuver" that makes use of the drag, or friction, created by Earth's atmosphere to alter orbit more effectively, the X-37B made headlines.
A brief U.S. Space Force statement issued with the photo said it was shot sometime last year while the X-37B was conducting experiments. The statement mentions the experiments, but it's unclear if they had anything to do with the aerobraking movements.
School of the Air students coordinate through Space Force software during 2024 experiments and mission checks that use the onboard camera to watch Earth in a highly elliptical orbit. During its seventh flight the X-37B spacecraft undertook unique orbit adjustment methods known as aerobraking that protected the vehicle while needing very little fuel.
Although neither the U.S. Space Force nor its former operator, the U.S. Air Force, have disclosed what the spacecraft conducts during its protracted flights, it is known that the X-37B is used as a test platform for emerging space technologies.
So far, it has hosted payloads for testing solar power beaming from space, thermal protection systems, and self-sufficient flight capabilities. The Space Force describes the X-37B as the "most advanced re-entry spacecraft that performs risk reduction, experimentation, and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies."
The X-37B flew for a record 908 days on its sixth mission, which finished with a landing at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on November 12, 2022.
Because the Space Force rarely publishes mission dates, it's unclear when the space plane will return to Earth and complete its seventh voyage.
China is also testing its own reusable spaceplane. The vehicle embarked on its third mission barely two weeks before the X-37B's most recent flight.
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