Jane Edwards
The U.S. Air Force plans to launch a Boeing-built X-37B spaceplane aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in August, Spaceflight Now reported Tuesday.
Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced Tuesday the fifth mission of the spaceplane, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
The announcement came a month after one of the service branch’s two X-35Bs landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The military branch launched OTV’s first four missions onboard United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rockets.
X-37B is a reusable space vehicle that weighs approximately 11,000 pounds, has a wingspan of approximately 15 feet and has revolved around the Earth at an altitude of up to 250 miles.
The OTV spaceplane has orbited the Earth for a total of 2,085 days during the first four missions.
