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 .
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