A robotic spacecraft will be launched this month for the US Air Force to conduct technology tests in orbit.
The X-37B is scheduled to take-off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, on 19 April 2010, according to The Associated Press.
The spacecraft weighs 1,000ft and measures 9.5ft tall and 29ft long, and has a wingspan of less than 15ft with two angled tails.
It can operate autonomously in orbit, as well as on re-entry and landing.
It will include technologies such as thermal protection systems, autonomous advanced guidance, navigation and control systems, high temperature structures, conformal reusable insulation and high temperature seals.
Once fielded, the X-37B will be the only X-vehicle capable of conducting continuous on-orbit operations for up to 21 days.
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By GlobalDataThe spacecraft has been designed as a prototype of a vehicle that can carry small payloads into orbit, carry out a variety of military missions and then return to Earth.
The X-37B, which will stay in orbit for 270 days, will land on northwest of Los Angeles at coastal Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The X-37B programme is controlled by the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office.
In 1999, NASA began the X-37 programme in a cooperative deal with Boeing.
