If you desire to understand the modifications in the manner that the U.S. armed forces handle space to have a glance at the terrestrial operations, then you should initially find out about the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. This spacecraft is a flight-testable, and it can be re-employed, is the military’s minimal, very specially made out-of-the-box spacecraft for space, and so, has stealthily ascended to being one of the most sophisticated and clandestine weapons of the U.S. Space Force.
Its seventh flight, OTV-7, stood out in an already impressive record. With this combination, the spaceplane achieved a highly elliptical orbit—one that takes it far out over Earth at its apogee—opening up new possibilities for flight testing novel maneuvers and technologies.
Of all the moves, one stood out: aerobraking. It’s like using the atmosphere as a tool. By going into the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere, the X-37B could slow down and change its orbit without using fuel. This method, more typically practiced on missions to Mars, had never been tried before by the X-37B.
The military benefit? It enables the spaceplane to relocate unobtrusively, making it more difficult for competitors to trace and anticipate. As former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson once described, this type of maneuvering can compel competitors to “look all over again” for the aircraft—just as a submarine hides in a thermal layer to escape detection.
But OTV-7 was more than a demonstration of orbital flexibility. It also contained an array of experiments designed to improve space domain awareness—the capability to observe and comprehend activity in orbit about the Earth.
The mission evaluated new sensors and tracking systems to assist in the identification of satellites, debris, and other potential threats in a growing, congested space environment.
NASA contributed to the project with its Seeds-2 experiment, examining how seeds withstand long-term exposure to the radiation in space. The information from this type of research will be invaluable for long-duration missions of the future, where cultivating food in space may be required.
On its 7th mission, the X-37B was in orbit for 434 days, over 14 months, and then returned to the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. This was a double win as the vehicle not only showcased its stability for extended missions but also its potential for several different launch and landing locations, which basically means it would be easier to plan future missions.
The primary takeaway from the seventh mission of the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-7) is that the X-37B has evolved into a platform to test the new space technologies, ranging from autonomous navigation to advanced communication.
As Boeing vice president of space mission systems, Michelle Parker said, the advancements proven on the X-37B will cascade beyond the military into the wider efforts for sustainable space missions.
With its recent mission, the X-37B demonstrated that the U.S. is not just responding to the changing issues of space—it’s leading the charge.
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