US Military Space Plane Wings Past 500 Days on Latest Mystery Mission
By Leonard David, Space.com's Space Insider Columnist | January 30, 2019 06:27am ET
The secretive mission of a U.S. Air Force X-37B miniature space plane just winged past 500 days of flight.
The robotic drone is performing classified duties during the program's fifth flight.
The current mission — known as Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5) — was rocketed into Earth orbit on Sept. 7, 2017, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. [The X-37B Space Plane: 6 Surprising Facts]
Space-based demonstrations
X-37B missions are carried out under the auspices of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, and mission control for OTV flights is handled by the 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. This squadron oversees operations of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle.
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