With its mysterious X-37B space plane, the US Space Force will set a new orbital record.
On May 17, 2020, the Orbital Test Vehicle-6 (OTV-6) of the X-37B space plane was launched by the U.S. Space Force. The all-automated spacecraft, which can go back into Earth's atmosphere, is getting close to the orbital record of 780 days, which was set by the OTV-5 in 2019.
The X-37B is an unmanned spacecraft that was made by Boeing. It was made to help long-term space goals by using reusable vehicle technologies. The spacecraft can work in low-Earth orbit, 240–800 km (150–500 miles) above the Earth. It is the first vehicle since the space shuttle that can bring experiments back to Earth.
Boeing's page for this spacecraft says that compared to the Space Shuttle, the X-37B is one-fourth the size. It has a lot of firsts in the space industry, like the use of an avionics system that au...