The United States Space Force releases first-ever photo taken by highly secretive plane in orbit

The United States Space Force has released a rare photo of its secretive X-37B space plane in orbit.

The agency shared the image on X (formerly Twitter), and is the first ever image of this mission shown to the public.

The plane was launched on its seventh mission back in December 2023, with very few details have ever been made public about why it’s up there.

"An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in HEO in 2024," the United States Space Force wrote in a post on X.

"The X-37B executed a series of first-of-kind manoeuvres, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel."

Aerobreaking involves using the drag, or friction, generated by Earth’s atmosphere to change orbit more efficiently.

When the X-37B was preparing to launch, the U.S. Space Force said the flight would "include operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA," according to a statement.

We’ve only had one other glimpse of the mysterious X-37B in the past. During the livestream of its most recent launch in 2023, a brief shot of the spacecraft deploying from Falcon Heavy’s upper stage was seen while its service module was still attached.

The mission objectives of the space plane – similar in design to NASA's space shuttles – have remained a closely guarded secret. The Air Force is tight-lipped about the plane, leaving people to speculate it's doing anything from putting spy satellites into orbit to testing out an EmDrive – a hypothetical fuel-less propulsion that’s been studied by NASA – in space.

Other suggestions included that the Air Force might be using the X-37B for weapons research or orbital surveillance, although this was denied by the Air Force in 2010 that the program was used for any “offensive capabilities.”

"The program supports technology risk reduction, experimentation and operational concept development," a spokesperson said at the time.

The official statement from the Air Force doesn’t give away too much.

"The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the US Air Force.”

"The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold; reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth. Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, advanced propulsion systems, advanced materials and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing."

As it stands, currently we'll either have to accept the official explanation, or make our peace with the fact there is giant mysterious space plane flying overhead, and only the U.S. military knows the full story.

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