Just a few months after completing its seventh test flight into orbit, the Space Force’s experimental vehicle, known as the X-37B, is ready for another flight. During the upcoming mission, the aircraft will test new technologies designed to enhance military capabilities in space, such as a navigation sensor that could replace GPS.
The US Space Force plans to launch the Boeing Orbital Test Vehicle, designated OTV-8, on August 21 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. According to the Space Force, the eighth flight of the X-37B will carry an unspecified number of payloads, including a demonstration of laser communication technology and a quantum sensor for space navigation.
The laser communications demonstration will use infrared light to transmit data and will involve commercial satellites in low Earth orbit. Laser communication enables the transmission of more data and is also considered more secure than the more common radio frequency transmission.
The OTV-8 will also feature a quantum inertial sensor, an extremely precise device that measures acceleration using the principles of quantum mechanics. The device will allow navigation without the need to rely on GPS. “This technology is useful for navigating in the absence of GPS and will therefore increase the navigational resilience of U.S. spacecraft in the face of current and emerging threats,” the Space Force said in a statement.
The X-37B launched on December 28, 2023, on its seventh mission, spending a total of 434 days in orbit before returning to Earth on March 7. Its latest mission was significantly shorter than flight number six, which spent a record 908 days in orbit before landing at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in November 2022. The spaceplane broke its previous record of 780 consecutive days in orbit. Instead of focusing on the duration of its missions, the Space Force seems to be preparing for a faster turnaround of its reusable vehicle.
The Space Force is competing with China to develop the capabilities of its spaceplane. China is in the midst of testing its own Shenlong spaceplane, which completed its third mission in late 2024, spending 268 days in orbit. Both countries have shared little information about their vehicles, although the Space Force has recently begun to disclose more information about the mission objectives of its spaceplane since its debut in 2010.
