Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

The first X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle waits in the encapsulation cell of the Evolved Expendable Launch vehicle on April 5, 2010 at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Fla. Half of the Atlas V five-meter fairing is visible in the background.
Credit: U.S. Air Force

The classified X-37B program is readying the next mini-shuttle for launch, this time atop a SpaceX Falcon 9. According to an FAA manifest, the August launch date and window is yet to be determined.

U.S. Air Force spokesperson, Captain Annmarie Annicelli, advised Inside Outer Space:  “At this time, I do not have the launch date to release.”

Launch site for the X-37B – Orbital Test Vehicle-5 – is launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Four previous flights

The U.S. Air Force X-37B is an unpiloted miniature space plane.

According to the USAF, one onboard OTV-5 payload is the US Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader or ASETS-11. It will test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipes in the long duration space environment.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4), the Air Force’s unmanned, reusable space plane, landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility May 7, 2017.
Credit: USAF

Four previous X-37B missions were all lofted by United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas 5 rockets—a joint venture by Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

The last flight of the vehicle — OTV-4 — conducted on-orbit experiments for 718 days, extending the total number of days spent on-orbit for the OTV program to 2,085 days, according to the U.S. Air Force.

On May 7, 2017, OTV-4 landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility – a first for the program as all previous missions ended with a tarmac touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

The U.S. Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 4 is seen following its landing at NASA ‘s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida May 7, 2017.
Credit: U.S. Air Force courtesy photo

Record shattering

Flights of the craft have repeatedly broken its own long-duration record.

The first OTV mission began April 22, 2010, and concluded on Dec. 3, 2010, after 224 days in orbit.

The second OTV mission began March 5, 2011, and concluded on June 16, 2012, after 468 days on orbit.

An OTV-3 mission chalked up nearly 675 days in orbit when it landed Oct. 17, 2014.

The OTV-4 conducted on-orbit experiments for 718 days during its mission, extending the total number of days spent on-orbit for the OTV program to 2,085 days.

Last Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission touched down at NASA ‘s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility May 7, 2017.
Credit: Michael Martin/SAF

Shuttle lookalike

The robotic mini-space plane is one of two known reusable X-37B vehicles that constitute the space plane “fleet.” Appearing like a miniature version of NASA’s now-retired space shuttle orbiter, the reusable military space plane is 29 feet (8.8 meters) long and 9.6 feet (2.9 meters) tall, and has a wingspan of nearly 15 feet (4.6 meters).

Back to hangar for another flight day. U.S. Air Force X-37B/OTV-4 is rolled into facility after its May 7 landing at Kennedy Space Center.
Credit: Michael Martin/SAF

The space drone has a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed that can be outfitted with a robotic arm. It has a launch weight of 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms) and is powered on orbit by gallium arsenide solar cells with lithium-ion batteries.

Built by Boeing, the X-37B is managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office to perform risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies.