A mysterious US spaceplane just achieved a new milestone

On December 28th, 2023, the US Space Force launched its advanced and mysterious X-37B space plane into orbit where it has been operating for over a year. But what has this secretive orbital vehicle doing and what do we know about it?

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an unmanned and reusable space vehicle developed to help the United States explore “reusable vehicle technology that supports long-term space objectives” according to Boeing, the spacecraft's manufacturer. 

Designed to operate in low-Earth orbit, the X-37B may be the most advanced re-entry spacecraft in the world at the moment, and while it may look like it was designed as a carbon copy of the US Space Shuttle, it's a far more advanced vehicle. 

The X-37B has been flying secret missions since 2010 and has logged seven different missions so far, including the most recent Orbital Test Vehicle 7 (OTV-7) operation that has seen the advanced spacecraft orbit the planet for more than a year. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, Public Domain

“While the exact nature of its missions remains undisclosed, the X-37B has been confirmed to conduct experimental research, such as studying the effects of space radiation on various materials, including seeds,” explained Newsweek’s Tom Howarth. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By U.S. Air Force, Public Domain

Little is known about what the X-37B has been doing during its most recent mission in orbit but a press release from the US Space Force in October 2024 reported that OTV-7 was going to be executing a series of new maneuvers called aerobraking. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By U.S. Space Force/Staff Sgt. Adam Shanks, Public Domain

According to The National Interest, aerobraking is a maneuver that allows a spacecraft to use a planet's atmosphere to slow down and alter its orbit while conserving its fuel. It may not sound like much, but the technique is rather revolutionary. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By NASA/JPL/Corby Waste, Public Domain

“This first-of-a-kind maneuver from the X-37B is an incredibly important milestone for the United States Space Force as we seek to expand our aptitude and ability to perform in this challenging domain,” Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force B. Chance Saltzman explained in the statement.

Smithsonian Magazine noted that the information released by the US Space Force in October 2024 was a rare look inside the secretive operations of the government group and the X-37B’s program. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By Giuseppe De Chiara 1968, Own Work, CC BY-SA 3.0

“The newly described aerobraking maneuver allows the X-37B spaceplane to change its orbit by using the Earth’s atmospheric drag—the friction caused by molecules in the atmosphere,” explained Smithsonian Magazine’s Margherita Bassi. 

Normally, any spacecraft in orbit that wants to alter its orbit would need to use thrusters to do so. However, this uses up propellant and can only be done so many times before the craft’s thrusters run out of fuel. This is where aerobraking could be a game-changer.  

"When we aerobrake, we utilize atmospheric drag to effectively step down our apogee one pass at a time until we get to the orbital regime that we want to be in," explained Boeing engineer John Ealy in a video published by the aerospace firm on X on November 1st, 2024.

Photo Credit: X @BoeingSpace

"When we do this, we save enormous amounts of propellant, and that's really why aerobraking is important,” Ealy added. 

Photo Credit: X @BoeingSpace

According to Newsweek, the fuel savings aerobraking could achieve on future spacecraft could extend their ability to operate in space without burning the typically larger amount of fuel associated with making orbital adjustments. 

Whether or not the world will learn more about the X-37B and its missions has yet to be seen, but what we do know is that this advanced and mysterious spacecraft is making a lot of interesting breakthroughs, some of which are being shared with the public. 

"X-37B missions have continuously advanced our nation's space capabilities by testing new technologies that reduce risk and inform our future space architectures," Holly Murphy, the program director for Boeing's Experimental Systems Group, explained in the X video published by Boeing Space. 

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