The mysterious space plane of the U.S. military, X-37B, has taken off on its seventh mission atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission launched on December 28 at 8:07 p.m. EST after suffering several delays due to less-than-favorable weather and some issues with ground equipment.
OTV-7 or USSF-52 is the first mission of the X-37B to fly under a Falcon Heavy, which is the second most powerful rocket in service today. Falcon Heavy’s three reusable first stages give the necessary push to place the space plane into new orbital regimes; its two side boosters landed back at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The X-37B is a 29-foot-long, unmanned vehicle with a 15-foot wingspan—essentially a small version of NASA’s now-retired space shuttle. The Boeing-built space plane is an orbital test bed used to gauge the performance of a variety of instruments and technologies in space. The missions are classified, although the Space Force does provide some broad outlines for OTV-7.
The mission, according to top officials from the Space Force, will “expand the United States Space Force’s knowledge of the space environment by experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies.” Of course, it is also very important that these tests are done so that the operations in space will be safe and secure. The mission will move the reusable space plane into new orbital regimes, possibly out to geosynchronous orbit, nearly 22,000 miles above Earth.
It also hosts several civilian experiments, including the Seeds-2 project by NASA, which will expose plant seeds to the challenging radiation environment of long-duration spaceflight. It could help build upon earlier studies and lead the way toward future crewed space missions.
Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, Director, of the X-37B Program, stated of the mission, “We are excited to expand the envelope of the reusable X-37B’s capabilities, using the flight-proven service module and Falcon Heavy rocket to fly multiple cutting-edge experiments for the Department of the Air Force and its partners.”
The X-37B has a history of progressively longer missions, having spent over seven months each in its previous six flights. The most recent mission, OTV-6, lasted 908 days—another record for the space plane. This latest mission could yield even more for the X-37B with the capabilities of the Falcon Heavy.
Space Force General B. Chance Saltzman stated that these experiments are of importance in that the X-37B continues arming the United States with what is necessary to improve present and future space operations. Indeed, he called the mission “groundbreaking” and reiterated the commitment of the Force towards the innovative usage of the space domain.
What makes the X-37B an invaluable property for the U.S. military is the fact that it can operate independently and then come back down to Earth for further examination. With this latest mission, the space plane pushes the frontier of what’s possible regarding space exploration and experimentation in technologies.