US military releases first photo from orbit from its mysterious space plane – Task & Purpose
An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in a highly elliptical orbit in 2024. As part of the X-37B's seventh mission, the vehicle executed a series of first-of-its-kind maneuvers, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel. (U.S. Space Force Courtesy Photo)
By Nicholas Slayton
Posted YesterdayThere aren’t a ton of specifics about what the military’s X-37B has been up to in space, but we now know one thing for certain: The view is pretty good. On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Space Force released a single photo taken from the X-37B space plane, posted to the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, or DVIDS. The photo caption says the image was taken from “[a]n X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle” and “captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in a highly elliptical orbit in 2024.”The photo captures part of the robotic space plane and a detailed look at the Earth. It’s not quite William Anders’ “Earthrise” picture, but does show the level of quality on the X-37B’s cameras, as well as a sense of just how far in orbit it is. The exact date and time of the photo are unclear beyond being taken in 2024. As for where it is, well it’s aptly listed as being in the “Space Force area of responsibility.” The X-37B took off on Dec. 28, 2023. While Space Force is open about launch dates and the final length in time for each of the space plane’s missions, exact details on its actions in orbit have been vague. Aside from a few brief lists of experiments on board, this photo is the clearest look at the in-orbit action. The X-37B, designed to function somewhere between a plane and a satellite, is on a heavily elliptical orbit, according to details released by Space Force.The space plane, made by Boeing, has been conducting orbital tests since 2010. Its previous mission, which ended Nov. 12, 2022, ran 908 days. It was the longest X-37B mission. On this mission, OTV-7, the X-37B is conducting several new tests. One of the biggest, conducted in recent months, was the first of its kind aerobraking experiment. In November 2024 it began using drag from the friction of the atmosphere to adjust its orbit, using the resistance in place of burning fuel. The move also let it jettison its payload module in a way designed to safely dispose of any space debris.While Space Force and the U.S. military as a whole have put a lot of attention and effort into building up its satellite network in orbit, both for greater communication capabilities and for missile detection purposes, the X-37B has been a steady part of military tests for space. The space plane concept as a whole has been so important that it ended up in the service branch’s first official portrait.Nicholas Slayton is a contributing editor for Task & Purpose, covering conflict for over 12 years, from the Arab Spring to the war in Ukraine. His previous reporting can be found on the non-profit Aslan Media, The Atlantic, Al Jazeera, The New Republic, The American Prospect, Architectural Digest, The Daily Beast, and the Los Angeles Downtown News. You can reach him at nicholas@taskandpurpose.com or find him on Twitter @NSlayton and Bluesky at @nslayton.bsky.social.
By Nicholas Slayton
By Nicholas Slayton
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