The secretive X-37B space plane to launch NET August 21

Ordinarily launches of the X-37B space plane and its various missions stay wrapped in the secrecy veil of the mission and don't get much press coverage.  Next month's launch of one of the Space Force's two X-37B space planes is looking to be an exception.  

On Monday, the Space Force announced that it will fly the small, Space Shuttle-shaped vehicle on the program's eighth mission next month. The launch of the vehicle, on a Falcon 9 rocket, is scheduled to occur no earlier than August 21 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 

There are two active X-37Bs in the Space Force fleet, both built by Boeing. The first made its debut flight in April 2010. Since then, the two uncrewed spacecraft have made a succession of longer flights.
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It's likely that the first of these two vehicles, both of which are about 29 feet (9 meters) long and roughly one-quarter the length of one of NASA's Space Shuttle orbiters, will launch next month.

While, as most people who follow space flight will vouch, Space Force and Air Force research labs are being more open than usual about this mission, called OTV-8.  The mission's goals include tests of "high-bandwidth inter-satellite laser communications technologies." 

Communications by lasers over rather long ranges is hardly new, and it has become well established in the private space programs, too.  The Psyche mission, still en route to the asteroid bearing that name, tested laser communications at 10 million miles, 40 times the average Earth-moon distance of 250,000 miles.  But even that isn't what the OTV-8 mission is all about. 

The Space Force news says the test will be of a new navigation technology based on electromagnetic wave interference.  The news release characterizes this as the "highest-performing quantum inertial sensor ever tested in space." 

Boeing has previously tested a quantum inertial measurement unit, which detects rotation and acceleration using atom interferometry, on conventional aircraft. Now, an advanced version of the technology is being taken to space to demonstrate its viability. The goal of the in-space test is to demonstrate precise positioning, navigation, and timing in an environment where GPS services are not available.

"Bottom line: testing this tech will be helpful for navigation in contested environments where GPS may be degraded or denied," [US Space Force General Chance] Saltzman said in a social media post Monday, describing the flight.

Quantum inertial sensors could also be used near the Moon, where there is no comparable GPS capability, or for exploration further into the Solar System.

The X-37B at Kennedy Space Center, November 12, 2022. USSF Photo

Like virtually all earlier missions, the X-37B is hitching a ride to orbit on a plain, medium lift, Falcon 9. During its most recent flight that ended in March, the space plane launched on a Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time. This allowed the X-37B to fly beyond low-Earth orbit and reach an elliptical high-Earth orbit.