The US military’s Boeing-built X-37B spaceplane is in space again for its eighth mission.

The X-37B is an uncrewed craft that, just like the USA’s retired Space Shuttle, launches on a rocket and after re-entry makes an unpowered landing on a terrestrial runway. The vehicle has engines it can use to maneuver in space, but in 2024 deliberately grazed Earth’s atmosphere by “aerobraking” to make a significant change to its orbit.

It’s thought the spaceplane has other means to change its orbit – a move that requires a lot of energy – and is therefore the subject of occasional criticism from China on grounds it could be a weapons platform.

Little is known about the missions flown by the X-37B, save that they sometimes last for more than a year and nearly always involve experiments with new sp

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