| USA-240 | |
| Mission Type: | Demonstration |
| Operator: | Air Force Space Command |
| Cospar Id: | 2012-071A |
| Satcat: | 39025 |
| Spacecraft Type: | Boeing X-37B |
| Manufacturer: | Boeing |
| Launch Mass: | 5400kg (11,900lb)[1] |
| Power: | Deployable solar array, batteries |
| Launch Date: | [2] |
| Launch Rocket: | Atlas V 501 |
| Launch Site: | Cape Canaveral SLC-41 |
| Launch Contractor: | United Launch Alliance |
| Landing Site: | Vandenberg AFB Runway 12 |
| Orbit Epoch: | 13 August 2014, 18:50:13 UTC[3] |
| Orbit Reference: | Geocentric |
| Orbit Regime: | Low Earth |
| Orbit Periapsis: | 320km (200miles) |
| Orbit Apoapsis: | 333km (207miles) |
| Orbit Inclination: | 43.50 degrees |
| Orbit Semimajor: | 6698.18km (4,162.06miles) |
| Orbit Eccentricity: | 0.0009437 |
| Orbit Period: | 90.93 minutes |
| Orbit Mean Motion: | 15.84 |
| Apsis: | gee |
| Programme: | OTV program |
| Previous Mission: | OTV-2 |
| Next Mission: | OTV-4 |
USA-240, also referred to as Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3), is the second flight of the first Boeing X-37B, an American unmanned robotic vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. It was launched to low Earth orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on 11 December 2012. Its mission designation is part of the USA series.
The spaceplane was operated by Air Force Space Command, which has not revealed the specific objectives of the mission or identity of the mission's payload. The Air Force stated only that the "mission will incorporate the lessons learned during the refurbishment process on OTV-1. As the X-37B program is examining the affordability and reusability of space vehicles, validation through testing is vital to the process. We are excited to see how this vehicle performs on a second flight."[4] [5]
OTV-3, the second mission for the first X-37B, and the third X-37B mission overall, was originally scheduled to be launched on 25 October 2012,[6] but was postponed because of an engine issue with the Atlas V launch vehicle.[7] The X-37B was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral on 11 December 2012.[4] [5] In March 2014, OTV-3 broke the X-37B program's endurance record by passing 470 days in space.[8] [9]
The vehicle landed at Vandenberg AFB on 17 October 2014 at 16:24 UTC, having spent just short of 675 days in orbit.[10] [11]