You can trace this legacy all the way back to the original Project Moonwatch, which first tracked Sputnik 1 after its historic first orbit in 1957.
(The launch was broadcast live, however.) Once launched, tracking the mini space plane becomes the pursuit of dedicated satellite-watchers worldwide. Department of Defense missions, NORAD doesn’t publicly publish the orbital parameters for the X-37B. Its orbit is inclined 38° from Earth’s equator, ensuring that the craft is visible from latitude 45° north to 45° south.Īs with a majority of classified U.S. Launched from Cape Canaveral on May 20, 2015, OTV-4 orbits Earth once every 91 minutes in a 196-mile (315-km) altitude orbit. The USAF owns two X-37B spacecraft, and the current Orbital Test Vehicle 4 (OTV-4) mission is the fourth overall for the program. One of the more intriguing missions to track from your backyard is the U.S. (Folks at public star parties are always amazed to see satellites with their own eyes!) But most of what you’re seeing are actually discarded boosters in low-Earth orbit, and more than a few are clandestine spy satellites. Step outside on any clear night at dusk during twilight hours and watch the sky for a few minutes, and you’ll notice swiftly moving “stars,” sentinels of our modern Space Age. This photo is from the second mission, OTV-2, which launched from Cape Canaveral in 2011 and conducted experiments in orbit for 469 days. Air Force's unmanned, reusable space plane. The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is the U.S. Now is the time to track the secret space plane X-37B on its OTV-4 mission.
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