Tag: X-37B
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Effects of Falcon Heavy launch delay could ripple to downstream missions
SpaceX and the US Space Force thought they were ready to launch the military’s mysterious X-37B spaceplane this week, but ground teams in Florida need to roll the Falcon Heavy rocket back into its hangar for servicing. This is expected to push back the launch until at least late December, perhaps longer. SpaceX and Space…
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The US military’s spaceplane is about to fly again—it needs a bigger rocket
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida—A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is poised for launch as soon as Wednesday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the US military’s mysterious X-37B spaceplane is fastened atop the heavy-lifter for a ride into orbit. Although the Space Force is keeping details about the military spaceplane’s flight under wraps, we…
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Falcon Heavy launch of secretive X-37B military spaceplane on hold
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket stands ready to launch the USSF-52 mission. The two side boosters are making their fifth flight while the center booster is launching on its first and only flight. Image: Michael Cain Update Dec. 13: Falcon Heavy is returning to the hangar and launch of USSF-52 mission is on hold. Update…
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SpaceX conducts static fire test ahead of fifth Falcon Heavy launch of 2023
The Falcon Heavy for the USSF 52 mission to launch the U.S. military’s X-37B spaceplane inside the hangar at launch complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. Image: SpaceX. Following two Falcon 9 launches from both California and Florida, SpaceX closed out the first weekend of December with a Falcon Heavy static fire test. The…
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SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral on Starlink mission
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket streaks across the sky above Florida’s Space Coast amid the Starlink 6-31 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein SpaceX continued a busy weekend with the launch of another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station late Saturday night. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 from Space Launch Complex 40 occurred…
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U.S. military’s X-37B mini-shuttle to launch on SpaceX Falcon Heavy for the first time
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle sits on the runway at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility after returning from its sixth mission on Nov. 12, 2022. Image: U.S. Space Force The U.S. military’s experimental spaceplane will soon soar to orbit using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time, a Pentagon news release announced.…
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In a surprise move, the military’s spaceplane will launch on Falcon Heavy
The US military’s reusable X-37B spaceplane will launch on the next flight of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, scheduled for December 7, officials announced on Wednesday. This was unexpected because the spaceplane’s six previous missions launched on medium-lift Atlas V or Falcon 9 rockets. This next mission, the seventh by an X-37B spaceplane, will fly on…
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Boeing-built X-37B space plane lands after completing record 908-day orbital mission
The X-37B space plane lands at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Boeing / U.S. Space Force Photo) The U.S. Space Force’s Boeing-built X-37B space plane today completed yet another record-setting mission, landing like an airplane at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida 908 days after it was launched. This was the sixth mission in…
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Boeing-built X-37B space plane goes into orbit for shadowy Space Force test mission
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launched a Boeing-built X-37B space plane today on a semi-secret orbital mission under the management of the recently created Space Force. Today’s USSF-7 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 9:14 a.m. ET (6:14 a.m. PT), a day after the first attempt was called…
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ULA Atlas V launches sixth mission for X-37B spaceplane
The United States Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane began its sixth mission with launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Sunday after a weather scrub on Saturday. Atlas lifted off from Cape Canaveral without issue and deployed the X-37B into low Earth orbit about twenty minutes later. Built by Boeing, the X-37B Orbital Test…