U.S. Space Plane X-37B In Orbit For More Than 900 Days

The US military’s uncrewed space plane has set a record for its longest flight in orbit. The X-37B craft has been circling the earth for 902 days, greatly exceeding its previous record of 780 days.

Photo Insert: X-37B’s current mission started more than two years ago, with the craft launching from Cape Canaveral on May 17, 2020.

And it doesn’t appear to be coming back to Earth any time in the immediate future, Nicholas Slayton reported for Task & Purpose.

X-37B’s current mission started more than two years ago, with the craft launching from Cape Canaveral on May 17, 2020. With this milestone, the space plane’s total record has been more than 3,700 days in orbit.

The mission is secretive, with only two pieces of its payload announced.

It’s the sixth Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) mission with the space plane, and the military has been keeping its operation and what it is doing on this and past missions relatively secret.

Speculation has ranged from testing surveillance systems to experiments on putting satellites in lower orbits.

What is clear is that this is the first mission launched under Space Force command. The X-37 project started life under the Air Force. After the Space Force formed in December 2019, it took over authority on the program.

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