Another US Military Mini Shuttle Launches on Secret Mission
Secret X-37B Mission Tests Cutting-Edge Tech
The U.S. military's secretive X-37B space plane, a reusable mini shuttle, blasted off Thursday night from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, marking its eighth orbital mission since its debut in 2010. The uncrewed Boeing-built spacecraft, measuring 29 feet long with a 15-foot wingspan, is designed to conduct classified experiments in low Earth orbit, typically between 150 and 500 miles above the planet.
The U.S. Space Force revealed that this mission, dubbed OTV-8 (Orbital Test Vehicle-8), will focus on testing advanced technologies, including laser communications and quantum navigation systems for GPS-independent operations, critical in scenarios where GPS signals may be jammed. The inclusion of quantum navigation, which leverages ultra-cold atoms to achieve high-accuracy positioning, underscores the mission’s aim to enhance space resilience amid growing global competition.
Details about the mission’s duration or full payload remain undisclosed, consistent with the X-37B program’s secretive nature. Previous missions have varied significantly in length, with the most recent, OTV-7, lasting 434 days before landing at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on March 7, 2025, after pioneering aerobraking maneuvers to adjust its orbit using atmospheric drag. Another mission, OTV-6, set a record with 908 days in orbit, ending in November 2022.
Also Read: Trump’s Space Deregulation Boosts Musk’s SpaceX Dreams
The X-37B, resembling a scaled-down NASA space shuttle, launches vertically inside a rocket’s protective fairing and lands autonomously on a runway, with Kennedy Space Center and Vandenberg as primary sites and Edwards Air Force Base as a backup. The Space Force operates two X-37B vehicles, both housed in former shuttle facilities at Kennedy. While speculation persists about potential military applications, such as satellite surveillance, officials emphasize the program’s role in advancing reusable spacecraft technologies and conducting experiments that can be analyzed on Earth.
This launch, the third X-37B mission using a SpaceX rocket following OTV-5 and OTV-7, highlights the ongoing partnership between the Space Force and SpaceX, with the Falcon 9’s booster B1092 returning to Landing Zone 2 after liftoff. The mission comes amid heightened U.S.-China space rivalry, with China’s Shenlong spaceplane launching its third mission in December 2023, shortly before OTV-7.
