Mission record
Atlas V 501 | OTV-4 (X-37B) (USA 261) (AFSPC-5) & ULTRASat cubesat deployer
Trajectory & orbital insertion
Ascent path is a representation — true ascent telemetry isn’t public.
Provider
United Launch Alliance
Provider type
Commercial
Orbit
LEO
Mission type
Government/Top Secret
Launch site
United States of America
Date
Wed, 20 May 2015 15:05:00 GMT
Orbital launch #
#5469 ever
Mission
It is the second flight of the second Boeing X-37B vehicle and the fourth flight of the program. United States Air Force Orbital Test Vehicle is an unmanned 5000 kg, 8.8 m-long reusable mini-spaceplane capable of autonomous re-entry and landing. The OTV-4 mission was to test Aerojet Rocketdyne's XR-5A Hall-effect thruster and conduct a NASA investigation for testing various materials in space. The mission concluded after 717 days in orbit, marking the first time X-37B landed on the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center.