Aviation

Secretive X-37B space plane lands after 2 years

A secretive military space plane landed Friday in California after nearly two years in space.

The unpiloted X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle touched down at Vandenberg Air Force Base at 12:24 p.m. ET, concluding a mission that launched from Cape Canaveral on Dec. 11, 2012. That’s 674 days.”The landing of OTV-3 marks a hallmark event for the program,” says an Air Force press release, quoting an unnamed X-37B program manager. “The mission is our longest to date and we’re pleased with the incremental progress we’ve seen in our testing of the reusable space plane.”The flight was the third by a Boeing-built X-37B since 2010, totaling 1,367 days.

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In low Earth orbit. It was the first repeat flight by one of the two reusable vehicles. The first mission lasted 224 days, the second 469 days.The experimental spacecraft — whose operations are expected to move to the Kennedy Space Center — are about a quarter the size of a space shuttle, measuring 29 feet long with a 15-foot wingspan and a payload bay the size of a pickup truck bed. They have launched atop United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket. Run by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the program has taken over two former shuttle hangars at KSC, where renovations are expected to be completed by the end of this year. That would allow the vehicles to be processed near their launch site, with future landings possible on KSC’s 3-mile shuttle runway. Doors on one of the hangars, Orbiter Processing Facility-1, already brand the site as “Home of the X-37B.” The program’s budget and missions are classified.The Air Force says it is performing “risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies.”The Secure World Foundation says there’s a good chance the space plane serves as a platform for testing sensors for intelligence collection, but no chance it is a weapon system, as some have speculated.

Report Courtesy : USA TODAY

Aviation

COMAC Unveils Plans for the C929 to Rival Airbus and Boeing

After the success of China’s first C919 aircraft, the country is setting its sights on developing a larger plane. COMAC (Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China) has officially confirmed plans to build a widebody aircraft, marking a significant step in its aircraft lineup.

Traditionally, Airbus and Boeing dominate the widebody aircraft market, with decades of expertise in developing planes and engines capable of carrying heavy payloads. China, which currently relies on imported engines, is now aiming to challenge these giants with its own widebody jet, the C929, designed to compete with the Airbus A350 and Boeing 777.

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The C929 will be China’s first independently developed long-range widebody aircraft. It adheres to international airworthiness standards and boasts independent intellectual property rights. The baseline version is designed to seat 280 passengers and offers a range of 12,000 kilometers, catering to global demand for both regional and international air travel.

Russia, which also needs reliable narrowbody and widebody aircraft, could become a key customer for the C929. Additionally, China plans to target the broader Asian market as it continues to expand its aviation capabilities.

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China’s aviation progress includes the ARJ21 (now called C909), a regional jet with 100 seats for shorter routes, and the C919, a narrowbody jet with 180 seats designed to rival the Boeing 737 MAX and Airbus A320. Both models have found increasing demand in the domestic market.

At China’s largest air show in Zhuhai, COMAC announced that Air China will be the launch customer for the C929 widebody jet, though details about order size and delivery timelines were not disclosed.

Other major deals announced by COMAC include:

Hainan Airlines: Firm orders for 60 C919 and 40 C909 regional jets.
Colorful Guizhou Airlines: 30 C909 jets, with 20 firm orders and 10 provisional agreements.

The C929, renamed from the CR929 after Russia withdrew from the joint development project in 2023, is expected to carry 280–400 passengers with a range of 12,000 kilometers, competing directly with Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.

According to COMAC’s deputy general manager, Tong Yu, the first fuselage section of the C929 is expected by September 2027, with prototype test flights anticipated soon after.