Another X-37B mission launches

摘要

THE US Air Force's (USAF) unmanned X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) returned to orbit in May for its sixth mission. The Boeing-built spaceplane was mounted on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The unmanned craft launches inside a payload shroud on top of the conventional rocket, before it unfurls a power-generating solar array in orbit to generate electricity, then returning to Earth for a runway landing similar to NASA's space shuttle. The X-37B OTV is an experimental test programme in partnership between the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office and the United States Space Force. Most details of the X-37B's work, performance and payloads are classified, but the USAF has reported the system "performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies."