Outer space

Space: Elusive Enigma Flies Again

The U.S. Air Force X-37B UOV (unmanned orbital vehicle) is scheduled to go into space for the sixth time in mid-May, seven months after the other X-37B returned from its last, and longest (25.5 months) mission. The X-37B has been doing this for a decade now, going into orbit for the first time in April 2010, for over seven months. Each subsequent launch (March 2011, December 2012, May 2016 and September 2017) kept the X-37B in orbit longer (225 days then 469, 675, 718 and 780). There are actually two X-37B “space planes” so they are not putting the same one back into orbit soon after it returns.

One unanswered question is; what does X-37B do up there? The X-37B operations are classified secret and little information about what happens in orbit is released. The most recent X-37B mission caused a problem when the air force mentioned that the X-37B had carried and released three cubesats (very small satellites) that were not registered with the UN.