US military re-launches secret X-37B ‘space plane’ into orbit
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It's the sixth flight of an X-37B, a solar-powered plane that's flown by remote control without a crew.
Its mission is strictly confidential.","contentUrl":"https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/met/2020/05/18/391334675105626000/480x270_MP4_391334675105626000.mp4","height":270,"width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
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The United States military has re-launched a top secret autonomous craft into orbit around Earth.
The X-37B ‘space plane’ was launched atop an Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral to commence its sixth mission in space.
The small plane is capable of staying aloft for hundreds of days at a time and is controlled remotely from Earth.
The US has always stayed tight-lipped on what the craft actually does up in space. It has been reported that the aircraft, also known as an Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), will deploy a satellite and test power-beaming technology.
However, the plane’s mission remains ‘classified’ and the Pentagon still won’t say much about what it’s going to do up there.
‘This X-37B mission will host more experiments than any other prior missions,’ Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett said.
The X-37B space plane stops for refuelling back in 2010 (DoD/Corbis via Getty) In a previous statement, the US Air Force has explained the X-37B enables the US to ‘efficiently and effectively develop space capabilities necessary to maintain superiority in the space domain.’
The plane has broken the record for an orbital mission after spending 780 consecutive days in orbit.
The X-37B was built by Boeing and the programme started back in 1999. The plane itself looks like a smaller version of the manned space shuttles that were retired in 2011.
The space plane has set the record for the longest orbital flight (Nasa) The aircraft has a wingspan of less than 15ft and it’s small size is part of what makes it so hard to detect.
During the aircraft’s previous missions, amateur astronomers were able to detect the orbital pattern of the first X-37B which included flyovers of North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, heightening the suspicion that the vehicle was being used for surveillance.