The U.S. House Drive will launch the X-37B Orbital Check Car on Aug. 21, 2025, from Kennedy House Heart, Florida.
The U.S. House Drive introduced that it’s going to launch the eighth mission of the X-37B Orbital Check Car (OTV-8) on Aug. 21, 2025, from Kennedy House Heart, Florida. The mission shall be carried out in partnership with the Division of the Air Drive Speedy Capabilities Workplace (DAF RCO), in addition to the Air Drive Analysis Lab (AFRL) and the Protection Innovation Unit (DIU).
The X-37B spaceplane will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, designated USSF-36. The payload contains quite a few operational demonstrations and experiments for next-generation applied sciences, together with laser communications and the very best performing quantum inertial sensor ever examined in area, says the service.
The spaceplane made by Boeing returned from its newest mission, the seventh for the reason that first flight in 2010, on Mar. 7, 2025, after 434 days in orbit. The OTV-7 mission, designated USSF-52, was the fourth flight for the second X-37B, launched atop a Falcon Heavy in a Extremely Elliptical Orbit.
The House Drive’s X-37 is heading again to area for brand new checks and experiments. Launch is focused for August twenty first from the Kennedy House Heart. Questioning what it’ll be as much as? We’re excited to share two key checks. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/8Q9Oy0PAN2
— Normal Likelihood Saltzman (@SpaceForceCSO) July 28, 2025
“These experiments come as a part of a broader push throughout the U.S. House Drive to uphold the protection and safety of the area area by enhancing the resilience and adaptability of U.S. orbital programs,” defined the House Drive within the announcement of the brand new mission.
The laser communications and quantum inertial sensor are solely two of the important thing checks which shall be carried out through the OTV-8 mission. The others haven’t been disclosed but.
“This mission is about greater than innovation,” mentioned Chief of House Operations Gen. Likelihood Saltzman on X. “It’s about making our Joint Drive extra linked, extra resilient, and able to function within the face of any problem. That’s how America’s House Drive secures our Nation’s pursuits in, from, and to area.”
Laser communications
In the course of the OTV-8 mission, the X-37B shall be used to conduct laser communications demonstrations involving proliferated industrial satellite tv for pc networks in Low Earth Orbit. Low Earth Orbit (LEO) refers to Earth orbits beneath 1,200 miles (2,000 km) above the planet’s floor.
The House Drive didn’t disclose which industrial satellite tv for pc community shall be used, nonetheless among the many seemingly candidates are SpaceX’s Starlink and Starshield satellites, the latter being the navy variant of the previous. In truth, these Starlink satellites are outfitted for laser communications, particularly inter-satellite laser communications terminals, and already work with the U.S. authorities.
Laser communications present vital benefits as they can be utilized to switch better volumes of knowledge securely, shortly and with decreased energy necessities. Nevertheless, they’ve some drawbacks because of the larger speeds of the satellites in LEO, which permit solely small home windows of time to level the laser, set up the hyperlink and relay the information.
“Laser communications are integral to the way forward for area communications because the shorter wavelength of infrared mild will increase the quantity of knowledge that may be despatched with every transmission,” defined the House Drive. “Moreover, they’re safer than conventional radio frequency transmissions owing to the extra focused nature of laser beams. The usage of proliferated relay networks enhances the resilience of U.S. area architectures by guaranteeing that they include no single level of failure.”
“OTV-8’s laser communications demonstration will mark an necessary step within the U.S. House Drive’s means to leverage proliferated area networks as a part of a diversified and redundant area architectures,” said Gen. Saltzman commenting on the importance of this demonstration. “In so doing, it is going to strengthen the resilience, reliability, adaptability and information transport speeds of our satellite tv for pc communications structure.”
Quantum inertial sensor
The second key check of OTV-8 would be the demonstration of what the House Drive outlined the world’s highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever utilized in area. This demonstration will inform correct unaided navigation in area by detecting rotation and acceleration of atoms with out reliance on satellite tv for pc networks like conventional GPS, defined the service.
That is particularly vital as lately emerged stories, printed by Air and House Forces Journal, point out that “jamming of GPS indicators round Ukraine has develop into so extreme it’s even affecting satellites up to 1,200 miles above the Earth’s floor.” The jamming of GPS indicators has now develop into a typical incidence in battle areas, affecting each navy and civilian aviation, in addition to maritime site visitors, nonetheless the emergence of those results in LEO poses new issues.
“This know-how is helpful for navigation in GPS-denied environments and consequently will improve the navigational resilience of U.S. spacecraft within the face of present and rising threats,” defined the House Drive describing the check of the brand new sensor. “As quantum inertial sensors could be helpful for navigation in cislunar area, they moreover promise to push the technological frontiers of long-distance area journey and exploration.”
Quantum sensors have potential functions for brand new Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) capabilities as various to GPS. These sensors, leveraging the secure properties of atoms and subatomic particles used for atomic accelerometers or gyroscopes, could be invulnerable to GPS jamming.
“OTV 8’s quantum inertial sensor demonstration is a welcome step ahead for operational resilience in area,” mentioned Col. Ramsey Horn, House Delta 9 commander. “Whether or not navigating past Earth based mostly orbits in cislunar area or working in GPS-denied environments, quantum inertial sensing permits for strong navigation capabilities when GPS navigation shouldn’t be doable.”
“Finally, this know-how contributes considerably to our thrust inside the Fifth House Operations Squadron and throughout the House Drive guaranteeing motion and maneuverability even in GPS-denied environments,” added the Colonel. The Fifth House Operations Squadron is the unit inside USSF Delta 9 which conducts day-to-day on-orbit operations of the X-37B in partnership with the Air Drive Speedy Capabilities Workplace.
X-37B
The X-37B Orbital Check Car is the U.S. House Drive’s secretive, unmanned spaceplane, designed to check new applied sciences and push the boundaries of reusable spacecraft. Initially developed by NASA and later handed over to the navy, the X-37B has spent years quietly conducting labeled missions, fueling hypothesis about its actual objective.
At its core, the X-37B is about two issues: advancing reusable spacecraft tech and conducting experiments that may be introduced again to Earth for evaluation. The spaceplane is launched vertically on a rocket, spends months (or years) in orbit, after which lands like a standard plane. Through the years, it has examined all the pieces from superior thermal safety programs to autonomous flight controls and even potential new propulsion strategies.
This system dates again to 1999, when the Air Drive started working with NASA on what was then simply the X-37. In 2004, the undertaking was transferred to DARPA, which accomplished flight checks with a smaller, scaled-down model known as the X-40A. NASA’s unique imaginative and prescient for an X-37 Orbital Car by no means materialized, however its design served as the inspiration for what finally grew to become the Air Drive’s X-37B.
