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Foto in orbita.
An X-37B onboard camera, used to ensure the health and safety of the vehicle, captures an image of Earth while conducting experiments in a highly elliptical orbit in 2024. As part of the X-37B's seventh mission, the vehicle executed a series of first-of-its-kind maneuvers, called aerobraking, to safely change its orbit using minimal fuel. (U.S. Space Force Courtesy Photo)
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Articolo di Aviation Week con un bel po’ di informazioni interessanti.
The OTV-7 mission is the first on which the X-37B is operating in HEO rather than solely in LEO. […] The move to HEO has allowed the RCO and Space Force to observe the spaceplane’s exposure to new orbital regimes. The upper range of LEO is 2,000 km (1,240 mi.), whereas the perigree of an elliptical HEO orbit is about 1,000 km, and the apogee is more than 35,786 km.
The aerobraking maneuver capability required modifications to the spaceplane, namely for fault protection, autonomy and collision avoidance. Boeing developed a new collision avoidance system ahead of OTV-7, said Michelle Parker, company vice president for space mission systems. Over the course of the X-37B’s current mission, the Space Force identified about 1.7 million collision avoidance opportunities, Saltzman said, noting, “When we talk about data, I’m not talking about four or five numbers on a spreadsheet.”
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E’ atterrato a Vandenberg.
Il comunicato della Space Force:
The U.S. Space Force landed the X-37B at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, to exercise its rapid ability to launch and recover its systems across multiple sites. […] The successful completion of the novel aerobraking maneuver demonstrated the agile and flexible capabilities the X-37B provides the United States Space Force. Drawing on decades of lessons learned from previous space missions, this technique involves the use of atmospheric drag over the course of multiple passes to change orbits while expending minimal fuel.
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES 07.03.2025. Courtesy Photo. Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs. PUBLIC DOMAIN
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Occhio al “doppio” 
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