Space Force’s X-37B returns to space with new technology

Just a few months after the conclusion of the seventh test trip in Orbit, the SPACE FORCE experimental vehicle known as X-37B is ready to go another. On its next mission, SpacePlane will test new techniques aimed at enhancing military capabilities in space, such as a navigation sensor that can replace GPS.

The American space force is scheduled to launch a Boeing tropical vehicle, which was appointed as OTV-8, on August 21 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Falcon 9 from Spacex. For flight number eight, X-37B will carry an unknown number of load, including laser communication technology and quantum sensor for navigation in space, according to what he said Space.

The infrared laser communication demonstration will use data to transmit data and include commercial satellites in the low Earth orbit. Laser connectivity package more data in each transmission, and is also safer than the most used radio frequency transfers.

OTV-8 will also carry a quantum self-insufficiency sensor, which is a very accurate device that measures acceleration using the principles of quantum mechanics. The device will be able to navigate without the need to rely on GPS. “This technology is useful for mobility in environments transmitted from the GPS (GPS), and thus will enhance the flexibility of the American spacecraft in the face of current and emerging threats,” the space force wrote in a statement.

X-37B It was launched on December 28, 2023, for its seventh missionSpend a total of 434 days in orbit before returning to Earth on March 7. Its last mission was much shorter than the sixth trip, which spent a record for 908 days in orbit Landing at the Kennedy Space Center in NASA in November 2022. SpacePlane beat the previous record for 780 consecutive days in orbit. Instead of focusing along the age of its tasks, it appears that space strength is moving towards a faster transformation than its reusable car.

Space strength in a race with China to develop SpacePlane capabilities. China is in the midst of its SpacePlane test, Shenlong, which She completed her third mission in late 2024 after spending 268 days in orbit. Both countries have participated only in information about their cars, although the space force has recently started revealing more on the goals of SpacePlane since its appearance in 2010.