Boeing’s X-37B Spacecraft Concludes 6th Orbital Test Mission

Boeing’s X-37B spacecraft landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Saturday following a 908-day on-orbit stint that was its sixth Orbital Test Vehicle mission with the U.S. Space Force.

The unmanned reusable spacecraft hosted multiple payloads for the U.S. military and partners including the Naval Research Laboratory’s solar energy project and the U.S. Air Force Academy’s FalconSat-8 satellite, Boeing said Saturday.

The mission also carried out a pair of NASA experiments to examine the effects of space exposure on various materials and evaluate the impacts of long-duration space exposure on seeds.

OTV-6 is the first mission to introduce a service module to expand the number of experiments it can host.

“With the service module added, this was the most we’ve ever carried to orbit on the X-37B and we’re proud to have been able to prove out this new and flexible capability for the government and its industry partners,” said Jim Chilton, senior vice president of Boeing’s space and launch unit and a previous Wash100 awardee.

The mission launched to orbit in May 2020 onboard a United Launch Alliance rocket.