It’s unclear how long OTV-8 will last, but if past missions are any indication, the unpiloted plane will remain above the planet for a while. X-37B’s most recent mission launched on December 28, 2023 and returned after 434 days in orbit. Its longest mission (OTV-6) took place from December 28, 2023, to March 7, 2025, and lasted 908 days.

Just a few months after wrapping up its seventh test flight in orbit, Space Force’s experimental vehicle known as X-37B is ready for another go. For its upcoming mission, the spaceplane will test new technologies meant to bolster military capabilities in space, such as a navigational sensor that could replace GPS.

Space Force is sending the X-37B up once again, this time to test laser communications and a “quantum inertial sensor.”