“This will be the first X-37B mission to use a service module to host experiments.” This upcoming flight could add a few more years to the spacecraft’s total flight time. ![]() That flight marked the X-37B’s longest mission yet in space, and the vehicle has now spent a total of seven years and 10 months in orbit. The spaceplane, which looks a bit like a miniature Space Shuttle, landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 27th after spending a total of 780 days, or more than two years, in space. This launch comes a little more than six months after the X-37B returned home from its record-breaking fifth mission to orbit. As usual with this spacecraft, its exact purpose is a secret, though the Air Force says the vehicle will be carrying a number of experiments on this trip and testing out new systems in space before returning them to Earth. ![]() Original Story: The Air Force’s mysterious spy spaceplane, dubbed the X-37B, is headed back to space on Sunday morning for its sixth mission in Earth orbit. Update May 17th, 9:30AM ET: The X-37B successfully took off at 9:14AM ET on Sunday, though ULA ended live coverage of the mission early at the request of the Air Force.
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