https://www.space.com/space-force-x-37b-1st-photo-from-orbit-earth

The United States Space Force just offered a rare glimpse of its shadowy X-37B space plane in orbit.

The photo, released on Thursday (Feb. 20), was taken by a camera onboard the X-37B while the secretive space plane orbited high above the African continent. One of the plane's solar panels is visible on the left side of the photo, while what appears to be its open payload bay is visible along the top edge. The vehicle has been in orbit for well over a year now, having launched on its seventh mission on Dec. 28, 2023 atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

And now, the X-37B has notched another milestone with the Space Force's release of this photo, the first-ever image of this space plane in orbit that has been shown to the public. While the photo contains scant details about the vehicle and what it's currently testing, it offers a look at Earth far in the background, revealing just how high the vehicle is flying on its seventh mission.

We've gotten only one other glimpse at the X-37B in orbit prior to this. During the livestream of its most recent launch, a brief shot of the spacecraft deploying from Falcon Heavy's upper stage was seen while its service module was still attached.

According to a brief U.S. Space Force statement released alongside the photo, the image was taken while the X-37B was conducting experiments some time last year. It's unclear if those experiments were related to the aerobraking maneuvers, although the statement does reference them.The X-37B recently made headlines when Space Force and Boeing, who built the vehicle, revealed that it would be testing a new "aerobraking maneuver" that uses the drag, or friction, generated by Earth's atmosphere to change orbit more efficiently.Previous X-37B missions were flown in low Earth orbit, but as this photo reveals, the space plane is currently operating much farther from Earth. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy is capable of launching payloads into geosynchronous orbit, over 22,000 miles (35,000 km) above our planet.When the X-37B was preparing to launch on its current mission, the U.S. Space Force revealed the flight would "include operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA," according to a Space Force statement.

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Space Force does not typically publish mission timelines, so it's unknown when the space plane might return to Earth and mark the conclusion of its seventh flight.

China is also testing its own reusable space plane. The vehicle launched on its third mission just two weeks prior to the X-37B's most recent launch.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5684384&forum_id=2#48684604)