A Secretive US Space Plane Will Soon Test Quantum Navigation Technology
1 min read
Summary
The US Space Force has announced that its X-37B space plane will launch on its eighth mission in August, though an exact date has yet to be confirmed.
It will be the first mission for the vehicle since March this year, when it returned to Earth after spending 434 days in orbit.
The spacecraft is set to host experiments for the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Innovation Unit, including tests focused on high-bandwidth laser communications.
The Space Force says the mission will represent “an important step” in its ability to leverage commercial space networks, and further development of quantum inertial sensors for navigation will be helpful for manoeuvres in contested environments and locations where GPS is not available or has been disrupted.
