908 Days on Orbit
The Boeing-built X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 12 November, after spending 908 days in orbit, surpassing its previous record of 780 days.
The spacecraft has now flown 1.3 billion miles over six missions, spending 3,774 days in space conducting experiments for government and industry partners. “This mission highlights the Space Force’s focus on collaboration in space exploration and expanding low-cost access to space for our partners, within and outside of the Department of the Air Force,” commented Gen Chance Saltzman, Chief of Space Operations.
Mission 6 was launched in May 2020 and carried a solar energy experiment for the Naval Research Lab and a satellite built by cadets at the USAF Academy and the Air Force Research Laboratory – FalconSat-8, deployed in October 2021 and remaining on orbit today. Also hosted was the Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space (METIS-2), which evaluated the effects of space exposure on various materials to validate and improve the precision of space environment models.
“Since the X-37B’s first launch in 2010, it has shattered records and provided our nation with an unrivaled capability to rapidly test and integrate new space technologies,” stated Jim Chilton, SVP, Boeing Space and Launch. “With the service module added, this was the most we’ve ever carried to orbit on the X-37B.”
The X-37B programme is a partnership between the US Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the US Space Force. Designed and manufactured by Boeing, the company also provides the spaceplane with programme management, engineering, test and mission support.
