The US Space Force is preparing to launch its secretive X-37B space plane on an eighth mission next month. The spacecraft, built by Boeing, will take off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a Falcon 9 rocket no earlier than August 21. There are currently two active X-37Bs in the fleet, both of which have made successive longer flights since their debut in April 2010.
The first X-37B completed its longest and latest flight from 2020 to 2022, spending 908 days in orbit. The second vehicle landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base on March 7 after 434 days in space. The purpose of the upcoming OTV-8 mission is to test a service module that will expand the space plane’s capacity for experiments.
The military has provided more detail about this flight, indicating that it will host payloads for the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Innovation Unit. With its secrecy surrounding past missions, the US Space Force is gradually increasing transparency about the X-37B program, providing a clearer picture of its objectives in space exploration.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/07/a-secretive-space-plane-is-set-to-launch-and-test-quantum-navigation-technology