Page 1 - Aerotech News and Review, August 21, 2020

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X-37B spaceplane wins Collier Trophy
and Review
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The Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Mission 5 successfully landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility, Fla., Oct. 27, 2019. The X-37B OTV is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force.
Courtesy photograph
by Charles Pope
Air Force News
The Department of the Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane, a reusable, multi-purpose, system that operates without an onboard crew, won the prestigious Robert J. Collier Trophy Aug. 13, 2020, for advancing technology that pushes “the boundaries of flight and space explora- tion.”
In announcing the award, Jim Albaugh, chairman of The National Aeronautic Association which sponsors the competition, praised the
X-37B. “As the world’s only autonomous, reusable spaceplane, it con- tinues to contribute to our understanding of both space and air flight.” The Collier Trophy has been awarded annually since 1911 and is one of the most prominent accolades in aviation. Previous winners in- clude Orville Wright, Howard Hughes, as well as the Apollo 11 lunar landing team, Apollo 8, Mercury 7 and more recently, the International Space Station. Also earning the distinction are the B-52, the Boeing 747 and the F-22, among others. In 2018 the 416th and 461st Flight Test Squadrons at Edwards Air Force Base, along with Lockheed- Martin, the F-35 Joint Program Office, NASA and the Defense Safety
Oversight Council received the Collier Trophy, for the development and testing of the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System.
Designed and built by Boeing, operated in partnership with the U.S. Space Force, and managed by the U.S. Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the X-37B is a reliable, reusable, uncrewed space test platform designed to carry experiments to orbit and return them to Earth for evaluation.
“Underscoring the importance of space to the nation, the Collier Trophy celebrates the record-setting mission of the X-37B,” Secretary
See COLLIER, Page 2
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August 21, 2020 • Volume 34, Issue 15
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