Lawmakers want to give the U.S. Space Force $1 billion to support the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle program under the proposed budget reconciliation bill, congressional documents show.

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on June 25 released updated legislative language of the defense portion of the reconciliation bill, hailing the collaboration with its House counterpart and with the White House and Defense Department.

The proposed $1 billion plus-up for the X-37B program is part of a pot of money dedicated to the “Enhancement of Department of Defense Resources to Improve United States Indo-Pacific Command,” with a five-year authorization period, according to legislation text shared by SASC Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

The U.S. Space Force maintains two Boeing-built unmanned, reusable X-37B spacecraft, while the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) manages the program. Queries to SASC, the U.S. Space Force and the Air Force RCO regarding the funding increase were not answered by press time June 25. A Boeing spokesperson referred queries to the U.S. Space Force.

The X-37B completed its seventh mission March 7 after more than 434 days in orbit. During that mission, the spaceplane was launched for the first time on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and debuted operations in a highly elliptical orbit, before conducting a novel aerobreaking maneuver to shift into low Earth orbit.

With Mission 7 complete, the X-37B has spent more than 4,208 days on orbit since it was first launched on April 22, 2010. The Space Force is using the system as an on-orbit testbed and data collector in order to evaluate new technologies, to better understand similar adversarial platforms and to design new training environments, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told Aviation Week in January.