The U.S. Air Force’s robotic X-37B space plane sits on the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center shortly after a May 7, 2017, landing that ended the 718-day OTV-4 mission.
The United States Air Force’s X-37B program is readying its next robotic mini-shuttle for launch, this time atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The liftoff is scheduled to take place in early September, according to media reports.
Capt. Annmarie Annicelli, a U.S. Air Force spokeswoman, told Inside Outer Space: “At this time, I do not have the launch date to release.” [The Mysterious X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts]
The upcoming X-37B mission — which is known as Orbital Test Vehicle-5 (OTV-5) — will lift off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Air Force is to own twospace planes, which were built by Boeing.
Four previous flights
The Air Force has flown four to date. All of them launched Atlas V rockets, which are built by of
Each mission has established a new X-37B longevity record. OTV-1 lifted off on April 22, 2010, and concluded on Dec. 3, 2010, after 224 days in orbit. OTV-2 began March 5, 2011, and concluded on June 16, 2012, after 468 days on orbit.
OTV-3 chalked up nearly 675 days in orbit, finally landing on Oct. 17, 2014. And OTV-4 conducted on-orbit experiments for 718 days during its mission, extending the total number of days spent in space for the X-37B program to 2,085 days.
It’s unclear what exactly the X-37B will be doing during OTV-5, or how long the mission will last. But, according to the Air Force, one onboard OTV-5 payload is the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader, or ASETS-11. This instrument will test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipes in the long-duration space environment.
Leonard David is author of “Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet,” published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series “Mars.” A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of this story was posted on Space.com.