From time to time, the U.S. military shows glimpses of its X-37B spaceplane, which can travel to space for years at a time.
We just got another glimpse. The U.S. Space Force — which took the reins from the Air Force’s expansive military operations in space in 2019 — has released a view the robotic craft took from Earth’s orbit. You can see a portion of the X-37B and an outstretched panel above a view of a partially shadowed Earth.
“An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in [highly elliptical orbit] in 2024,” the Space Force posted on X. “The X-37B executed a series of first-of-kind maneuvers, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel.”
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This is the seventh mission of the X-37B, which orbits 150 to 500 miles above Earth to explore reusable space vehicle technologies and conduct long-term space experiments. The plane was originally built by Boeing for NASA, but the project transferred to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, in 2004. At nearly 30 feet long, it’s one-fourth the size of NASA’s retired Space Shuttle.
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An image of Earth captured by the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B spaceplane.
Credit: U.S. Space Force
The X-37B’s “aerobraking” maneuver mentioned above involves using close passes by Earth’s atmosphere to produce drag, ultimately allowing it to switch orbits without burning too much of its finite fuel.
“This novel and efficient series of maneuvers demonstrates the Space Force’s commitment to achieving groundbreaking innovation as it conducts national security missions in space,” former secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall explained in 2024.
But the spaceplane, which most recently launched in Dec. 2023, isn’t coming back home just yet. The mission is “now continuing its test and experimentation objectives,” the Space Force said. After that, the craft will plummet through our planet’s atmosphere and land on a runway — an event the U.S. military has released images of in the past.
The military clearly wants to promote the X-37B’s successes — without revealing too much about its outer space exploits.
