On Thursday, the U.S. military’s secretive X-37B space plane embarked on a new mission, anticipated to extend over several years.
This mission, similar to its predecessors, involves the reusable spacecraft, which bears a resemblance to a smaller version of the space shuttle, carrying out undisclosed experiments without any crew on board.
Launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, the mission faced a delay of over two weeks due to technical complications, finally taking off at night.
This launch signifies the seventh journey of an X-37B, a spacecraft that has accumulated over a decade in orbit since its initial launch in 2010.
The previous mission, setting the record for the longest duration, concluded after 2.5 years, landing on the Kennedy runway a year prior.
Details regarding the duration of this orbital test vehicle’s mission and its specific payload remain undisclosed by Space Force officials, except for the inclusion of a NASA experiment focused on studying the impact of radiation on various materials.
The X-37B, a creation of Boeing, shares design elements with the now-retired NASA space shuttles, but is significantly smaller, measuring 29 feet (about 9 meters) in length. It operates autonomously, eliminating the need for astronauts, and is equipped with an automatic landing system.
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Designed for vertical launches akin to rockets and horizontal plane-like landings, the X-37B is built to orbit at altitudes ranging from 150 miles to 500 miles (240 to 800 kilometers). The program operates two X-37Bs, housed in a converted shuttle hangar at the Kennedy Space Center.
