launched on December 28<\/a>, it flew into orbit on top of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which is much larger than the Atlas V and Falcon 9 rockets used to launch the X-37B on its previous missions.<\/p>\nThis immediately sparked speculation that the X-37B would reach higher altitudes than its past flights, which remained in low-Earth orbit at altitudes of a few hundred miles. A discovery from Tomi Simola, a satellite tracking hobbyist living near Helsinki, Finland, appears to confirm this suspicion.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Simola reported on social media and on SeeSat-L<\/a>, a long-running online forum of satellite tracking enthusiasts, that he detected an unidentified object using a sky-watching camera. The camera is designed to continuously observe a portion of the sky to detect moving objects in space. A special software program helps identify known and unknown objects.<\/p>\n“Exciting news!” Simola posted on social media. “Orbital Test Vehicle 7 (OTV-7), which was launched to classified orbit last December, was seen by my SatCam!\u00a0Here are images from the last two nights!”<\/p>\n
![\"File](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/x37b-gallery1-960x600-1-800x500.jpeg?resize=800%2C500&ssl=1\")
![Enlarge<\/a> \/<\/span> File photo of an X-37B spaceplane.<\/div>\nBoeing<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n](\"https:\/\/cdn.arstechnica.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/x37b-gallery1-960x600-1.jpeg\"){kind=link}