Overview

• The X-37B’s eighth mission, OTV-8, is scheduled to lift off on August 21 from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
• The spaceplane will carry the world’s highest-performing quantum inertial sensor ever flown to support precise navigation in GPS-denied orbital conditions.
• Operators will trial laser communications with commercial satellites in low Earth orbit to boost data transfer speeds and strengthen link security.
• Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said the laser demonstration will enhance the resilience and adaptability of U.S. satellite communications architectures.
• OTV-8 follows a 434-day flight that concluded in March after successfully testing aerobraking maneuvers to adjust orbits using atmospheric drag.