Six times now, an X-37B space plane has traveled to orbit and returned to Earth, each time spending longer and longer in space. The most recent mission landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center shuttle landing facility in Florida at 5:22 a.m. ET on Nov. 12, 2022, after its blastoff on an Atlas V rocket in May 2020. This trip entailed a record 908 days (or 2 years, 6 months) of experiments in orbit, according to the US Space Force, which now manages what had been an Air Force asset.
“The X-37B continues to push the boundaries of experimentation,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, the X-37B program director.
One experiment, on behalf of the Naval Research Laboratory, involved an antenna module designed to capture solar rays and use them to transmit power to the Earth as radio frequency microwave energy. Another, for NASA, aimed to investigate the effect of long-duration space exposure on seeds. The OTV-6 mission also left behind a small satellite that US Air Force Academy cadets can use, the Space Force said, for “hands-on experience as space operators.”
The photo above shows the X-37B after landing in 2019.
Originally published June 14, 2012. It has been updated with details of later missions.
