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Boeing X-37B

9,951 Pakdaaircraftindustries  12 days ago

X-37B / OTV:

The Boeing X-37, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is a reusable robotic spacecraft. It is boosted into space by a launch vehicle, re-enters Earth's atmosphere, and lands as a spaceplane. The X-37 is operated by the Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, in collaboration with the United States Space Force,[1] for orbital spaceflight missions intended to demonstrate reusable space technologies. It is a 120-percent-scaled derivative of the earlier Boeing X-40. The X-37 began as a NASA project in 1999, before being transferred to the United States Department of Defense in 2004. Until 2019, the program was managed by Air Force Space Command.[2]

An X-37 first flew during a drop test in 2006; its first orbital mission was launched in April 2010 on an Atlas V rocket, and returned to Earth in December 2010. Subsequent flights gradually extended the mission duration, reaching 780 days in orbit for the fifth mission, the first to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket. The sixth mission launched on an Atlas V on 17 May 2020 and concluded on 12 November 2022, reaching 908 days in orbit.[3] The seventh mission launched on 28 December 2023 on a Falcon Heavy rocket, entering a highly elliptical high Earth orbit, landing in March 2025 after 434 days in orbit.[4][5]

General Characteristics

  • Created On Android
  • Wingspan 21.0ft (6.4m)
  • Length 36.4ft (11.1m)
  • Height 10.6ft (3.2m)
  • Empty Weight 10,936lbs (4,960kg)
  • Loaded Weight 12,927lbs (5,864kg)

Performance

  • Power/Weight Ratio 0.869
  • Wing Loading 35.9lbs/ft2 (175.2kg/m2)
  • Wing Area 360.2ft2 (33.5m2)
  • Drag Points 3581

Parts

  • Number of Parts 72
  • Control Surfaces 11
  • Performance Cost 341