The U.S. Space Force has announced the conclusion of the seventh test to further demonstrate the capabilities of its unmanned space plane, X-37B. Gen. Chance Saltzman, USSF space operations chief, said the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle-7, or ORV-7, mission “broke new ground” in the flexibility it showed accomplishing experimentation goals across various orbits.
“The successful execution of the (ORV-7) aerobraking maneuver underscores the U.S. Space Force’s commitment to pushing the bounds of novel space operations in a safe and responsible manner,” noted Saltzman, a three-time Wash100 awardee, .
424-Day Space Orbit
The Space Force deorbited ORV-7 after a space flight of more than 434 days and landed the space plane at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on Friday. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy Rocket had launched the mission to its first highly elliptical orbit for the USSF to demonstrate its capability for rapid launch and recovery across multiple sites.
During its orbit, the space plane also conducted tests and experiments on space domain awareness technologies vital to USSF operations in a space environment growing increasingly congested and contested, the Space Force said.
New Aerobraking Maneuver
After its tests and experiments, USSF aerobraked ORV-7 to low Earth orbit to execute landing procedures. According to USSF, the space plane performed a novel aerobraking maneuver that was built upon learnings from previous space missions and harnessed atmospheric drag to shift orbits through multiple passes and minimize fuel use.
The spaceplane’s previous mission, OTV-6, was deorbited and landed at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in November 2022 after a 908-day orbit performing various experiments. The mission included research for the Naval Research Laboratory’s solar energy project and NASA’s evaluation on how space exposure affects various materials, such as seeds.
Built by Boeing, the X-37B spacecraft recorded almost 719 days in its fifth mission that wrapped up in August 2019 to support U.S. Air Force efforts on reusable space vehicle technologies. Solar-powered, the space plane is 29 feet long with a wingspan of about 15 feet and 11,000 pounds launch weight.
