SHARE: Pictured is the X-37B, which the U.S. Space Force said is to take off on its eighth mission on Aug. 21 (Space Force Photo) The U.S. Space Force plans to launch the Boeing [BA] X-37B space plane on Aug. 21 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center, Fla.–an eighth X-37B mission to demonstrate “next-generation technologies including laser communications and the highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever tested in space,” the service said on Monday. Last Dec. 28, the X-37B used a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time for the plane’s seventh flight from Kennedy Space Center (Defense Daily, Jan. 2, 2024). Space Force said that mission tested new orbital regimes, space domain awareness technologies and radiation effects on NASA materials. The sixth X-37B mission logged 908-days–a record–before the spacecraft returned to Earth in November 2022, Boeing said. The upcoming eighth flight will test what is to be a cornerstone for future DoD command and control–laser communications for “proliferated commercial satellite networks in Low Earth Orbit,” Space Force said. In addition, the quantum inertial sensor demonstration “will inform accurate unaided navigation in space by detecting rotation and acceleration of atoms without reliance on satellite networks like traditional GPS,” the service said. “This technology is useful for navigation in GPS-denied environments and consequently will enhance the navigational resilience of U.S. spacecraft in the face of current and emerging threats,” Space Force said. “As quantum inertial sensors would be useful for navigation in cis­lunar space, they additionally promise to push the technological frontiers of long-distance space travel and exploration.” Boeing said that “since its inaugural launch in April 2010, the space plane has spent more than 4,200 days in space.” Recommended