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The Air Force鈥檚 launch this week of its new super-secret robotic plane into orbit is an important new technological step for the US military.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) looks like a mini space shuttle at 29 feet long. It is the third test of the OTV.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 testing the envelope for this vehicle, and so it鈥檚 a big deal in that regard,鈥� says Capt. Nicholas Plante, a spokesman for the US Air Force.

Publicly, the Air Force says that this is a chance to fine-tune 鈥渁n affordable, reusable space vehicle.鈥�

That is no small feat. In the past, US space 鈥渇light鈥� has been less like flying and more akin to billiards, says James Lewis, director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. 鈥淚t hasn鈥檛 really been flight because in a flight you can maneuver, you can pull on the controls.鈥�

But the X-37B really does more closely resemble space flight. 鈥淎 maneuverable spacecraft is unique,鈥� says Dr. Lewis. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to do.鈥澛�

The aircraft is designed to complete a mission that lasts as long as nine months, according to the Air Force. After that time, the OTV will automatically reenter the atmosphere, and descend and land horizontally on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

鈥淭his mission will further expand the test envelope鈥� of the OTV, and verify that it can demonstrate 鈥渞epeatability and reliability,鈥� according to an Air Force statement.

The length of the mission indicates that the OTV has a more covert mission as well. There wouldn鈥檛 be a need to stay in orbit for months otherwise, Lewis says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like it鈥檚 just a bus designed to take things into space and bring them back.鈥�

This experiment show that the US can use space 鈥渁s a platform for sensors that can collect on things in a way other countries really can鈥檛 stop,鈥� he adds.聽

In the case of the X-37B this likely includes collecting 鈥渆lectronic signals of all kinds,鈥� whether it鈥檚 microwave communications or the ability to measure data from a distance.聽

鈥淚n the case of, say, the recent North Korean missile launch this could include messages going back and forth between the ground control and the missiles, as well as measuring the heat signature and the flight path of the launch.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of good stuff that you can collect to give you an idea of what the other side is up to,鈥� says Lewis.

These are details that the Air Force will not share. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 go into the details of the mission any further,鈥� says Plante.聽

What is clear is that it has long been a goal of NASA to lower the cost of putting things into orbit. 鈥淎 lot of the time people talk about America losing its lead in space, but a maneuverable spacecraft is unique,鈥� Lewis says. 鈥淣ow America is doing something no one else can do.鈥�