SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, COLORADO — The US Space Force was established as an independent branch of the US military when US president Donald Trump signed the United States Space Force Act on 20 December 2019.<br /><br />Now, less than a year later, the Space Force has announced that it has received ownership of the Air Force's top-secret experimental space plane, the X-37B.<br /><br />Interestingly, the X-37B will be operated by a new Space Force unit called Delta 9, which is dedicated to focus on "orbital warfare".<br /><br />This means that Delta 9 will be responsible for combat operations and battles fought within the orbital sphere around planet Earth.<br /><br />The X-37B is an unmanned space vehicle that has a cargo bay similar to the space shuttle, but it's designed to be much more maneuverable than the shuttle.<br /><br />Sources suggest the reusable space plane is used like a satellite for intelligence gathering, although its ability to maneuver and change orbit makes it more flexible than conventional satellites.
