The U.S. military's X-37B space plane is about to begin a series of novel maneuvers, according to a rare official update on the spacecraft.

One of the US Space Force’s (sort of) secret space planes known as the X-37B is gearing up to shift its orbit in a big way. According to an official October 10 announcement from the USSF, the Boeing-built experimental aircraft has begun performing a series of maneuvers known as “aerobraking” that will see it change its altitude by conducting “a series of passes using the drag of Earth’s atmosphere.