The Air Force and United Launch Alliance (ULA) on Wednesday successfully launched the service’s secretive, unmanned space plane called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) at 11:05 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., according to a ULA statement.
This is the fourth mission for the X-37B, a 29 feet long shuttle-like spacecraft designed to operate in low-earth orbit (LEO) at a nominal speed of about 17,500 miles per hour. In its last mission, the X-37B flew for nearly two years before landing Oct. 17 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The total time spent in orbit for X-37B is 3.75 years.
Air Force spokesman Capt. Chris Hoyler said Wednesday the X-37B is designed for an on-orbit duration of 270 days, though longer missions have been demonstrated. He said as with previous missions, the actual duration will depend on test objectives, on-orbit vehicle performance and conditions at the landing facility.
The launch, which took place on an Atlas V rocket, also featured the Aft Bulkhead Carrier (ABC) carrying the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO) Ultra Lightweight Technology and Research Auxiliary Satellite (ULTRASat), which is composed of 10 cubesats managed by NRO and NASA. ULA announced in a press release about 2 hours, 18 minutes after launch that the cubesats successfully separated from the spacecraft.
ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Boeing [BA]. Boeing also develops the X-37B.