The US Space Force on February 20 released the first photo taken from space by the X-37B spacecraft. The photo was taken after the spacecraft launched on its seventh mission in late 2023.

According to Business Insider , during testing in an elliptical orbit, the X-37B took pictures of Earth from above Africa.

PHOTO: US SPACE FORCE

Since its launch, the X-37B has tested many future space technologies and for the first time tested orbital positioning with minimal fuel.

According to Business Insider , the X-37 project was initially assigned to Boeing by NASA for development, but was later assigned to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 2004 and was classified as a military secret project.

In 2006, the US Air Force announced the development of the X-37B spacecraft, designed to operate in orbit at a speed of nearly 28,163 km/h for 270 days. The X-37B is launched by a rocket and operates autonomously in space for long periods before returning to Earth and landing like an airplane.

During its seven missions, the X-37B has performed a variety of tasks, including testing materials in space environments and launching small satellites.

The first X-37B was launched into orbit in April 2010 and operated for 225 days before returning to Earth. In 2020, the sixth X-37B mission was launched and the spacecraft spent a record 908 days in space.

Mission 7 is scheduled to launch in December 2023 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Its goals include testing future space-based perception technologies and analyzing the effects of radiation on seeds during space travel, among other tasks.

There has been much speculation about the purpose of this top-secret spacecraft project, with some suggesting that the X-37B could be a space-armed spacecraft or a space-based intelligence and reconnaissance tool.