US Air Force's Secretive X-37B Space Plane (Infographic)

By Karl Tate
published

The x-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an unmanned space test vehicle for the USAF.
(Image credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com)

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an unmanned space test vehicle for the USAF. The X-37B is based on NASA's original X-37 design, the secretive plane's launch test flight was in April 2010. A second test flight, using a second vehicle - the Orbital Test Vehicle 2 - launched in March 2011. Take a look at the basic facts of the X-37B robotic space plane in the SPACE.com infographic above.

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Karl Tate
Karl Tate
Space.com contributor

Karl's association with Space.com goes back to 2000, when he was hired to produce interactive Flash graphics. From 2010 to 2016, Karl worked as an infographics specialist across all editorial properties of Purch (formerly known as TechMediaNetwork).  Before joining Space.com, Karl spent 11 years at the New York headquarters of The Associated Press, creating news graphics for use around the world in newspapers and on the web.  He has a degree in graphic design from Louisiana State University and now works as a freelance graphic designer in New York City.