X37B space plane
As we reported recently, a USSF-operated secret space plane X-37B has landed on Earth after a record 908 days in orbit. So what was it doing up there?

On November 12 at 5:22 a.m. ET, the unmanned X-37B space plane landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Station, marking the conclusion of the sixth mission accomplished by it and another similar spacecraft since its first flight in 2010. Officials say it was performing a series of scientific experiments at around 249 miles (400 kilometres) above Earth during the record-breaking voyage, but details were few.

The United States Space Force has been somewhat tight-lipped regarding the research carried out on board the craft during its most recent voyage. Two examples include the deployment of an electromagnetically guided training satellite constructed by United States Air Force cadets and the successful test conducted by the United States Naval Research Laboratory, in which sunlight was captured and sent to Earth in the form of microwaves. Materials Exposure and Technology Innovation in Space 2 (METIS-2) was a NASA experiment designed to study how space flight alters various materials.

But it hasn't prevented competitors from making assumptions about the nature of the tests being conducted on board. In an interview with Russia-24, the Russian official news channel, former director of Russia's Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin suggested that the ship may be used for surveillance or for transporting weapons of mass devastation.

Expert and analyst on Chinese military affairs Song Zhongping told the South China Morning Post that the craft's capacity to change its orbit mid-flight offered it the potential to spy on other satellites or on Earth-based targets, and even launch strikes from space.

Heather Wilson, a former Pentagon officer, has also commented on the craft's capacity to adjust its orbit, noting that this is made possible by the large amount of drag caused by its low Earth orbit.

China also has a secret space plane, which was launched into orbit from a Long March 5B rocket on Aug. 4. Much like the X-37B, much of what it is doing in orbit is unknown.

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