The X-37B is a bit like NASA's Space Shuttle — however it is uncrewed and launched as a payload as opposed to on the side of ...

Built by Boeing Co.’s advanced research lab, Phantom Works, in Huntington Beach, Calif., the X-37 would be the first U.S. unmanned spacecraft to be launched into space and land on its own.

According to Boeing, the space plane orbits between 150-500 miles above the Earth. Due to the X-37B being a classified Space Force mission, details remain limited.

X-37C The paper that Grantz delivered to the AIAA, "X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle and Derivatives" [PDF summary], provides further insights into the X-37 including the possibility of a manned version.

With that craft scheduled to be retired from service next year the U.S. Air Force's Boeing X-37 program is focused on demonstrating a next generation unmanned reusable spaceplane.

The mysterious Space Force space plane is headed back to the Florida launch pad. The Boeing-built X-37B is ready to see its eighth mission less than six months after completing its last.