The X-37B is an uncrewed, reusable spaceplane that launches on rockets and lands unpowered on runways. The vehicle uses onboard engines to maneuver and performed deliberate aerobraking in 2024 to alter its orbit. Orbital-change capability and long on-orbit endurance have prompted criticism from China over potential weaponization. Missions often exceed a year and typically host experimental space technologies. The latest flight launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and includes a Boeing integrated service module to expand payload capacity. The spacecraft is carrying demonstrations such as laser communications and a quantum inertial sensor that uses atom interferometry to support navigation without GPS.
The X-37B is an uncrewed craft that, just like the USA's retired Space Shuttle, launches on a rocket and after re-entry makes an unpowered landing on a terrestrial runway. The vehicle has engines it can use to maneuver in space, but in 2024 deliberately grazed Earth's atmosphere by "aerobraking" to make a significant change to its orbit. It's thought the spaceplane has other means to change its orbit - a move that requires a lot of energy -
Is hosting several technology demonstrations from government partners on this mission, include laser communications and a quantum inertial sensor designed to support navigation when GPS is unavailable. Boeing tested that quantum GPS tech in March 2025, when it described it as involving a "using a six-axis quantum inertial measurement unit (IMU" that use "a quantum-sensing technique called atom interferometry to detect rotation and acceleration using atoms."
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