NASA's mysterious Boeing X-37B military drone orbits for 780 days and sets new spaceflight record

By: Maksim Panasovskiy | 12.07.2022, 10:56

The military drone Boeing X-37B, which belongs to the space agency NASA, has set a new record for space flight.

What we know

The drone has been in orbit for more than 780 days and does not seem to have any plans to land yet. It was been launched in mid-May 2020 as part of Orbital Test Vehicle 6 mission. On July 7, Boeing Space on Twitter wrote that Boeing X-37B has been in orbit for 781 days.

Previous spaceflight record also belongs to Boeing X-37B. The drone set it in 2019. Then the drone landed after 780 days in orbit. By the way, the company itself calls this model a space plane.

The Boeing X-37B is a mysterious flying machine. The company does not disclose the purpose of the drone. According to rumors, it may be used for orbital weapons experiments. But it is known for sure that in 2021 the drone participated in the 2021 mission Orbital Test Vehicle 6 photoelectric radio frequency antenna module of the U.S. Navy.

Source: space.com

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