SpaceX, Boeing team up for another flight of the military’s X-37B spaceplane

In a significant advancement for military aerospace technology, the reusable X-37B spaceplane was launched back into orbit on Thursday night via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. This mission is set to showcase innovative navigation capabilities that do not depend on GPS signals. Central to this mission is what the Space Force describes as the "world's highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever used in space." The X-37B lifted off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 11:50 PM EDT (03:50 UTC Friday), carrying various payloads that include this cutting-edge navigation experiment. After a successful ascent, the Falcon 9 rocket's first-stage booster made a precise landing at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, while the upper stage continued to propel the X-37B into low-Earth orbit. Early Friday, Space Force officials confirmed the launch's success. This marks the eighth flight of the X-37B since its debut in April 2010. The program, which consists of two Boeing-built spaceplanes, is managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office in collaboration with the Space Force. The X-37B serves as a crucial technological testbed, facilitating the transport of experiments between Earth and space. While many of the payloads aboard the X-37B are classified, a few unclassified experiments are typically highlighted. Notably, past missions have successfully deployed small satellites into orbit, concluding with runway landings at either Kennedy Space Center or Vandenberg Space Force Base. For this particular mission, the Space Force has revealed that the X-37B is equipped with instruments aimed at demonstrating quantum navigation capabilities and a laser inter-satellite relay terminal designed to enable communication with other spacecraft in orbit. According to the Space Force, the quantum sensor package will facilitate accurate navigation in space by measuring the rotation and acceleration of atoms, eliminating the need for traditional satellite networks like GPS.