SpaceX to launch mysterious US Space Force X-37B aircraft into orbit: what is known (photo)
The X-37B spaceplane, shrouded in secrecy, will launch into space on its seventh mission on December 7 this year. Unlike previous flights, it will be launched into orbit by a Falcon Heavy rocket from SpaceX.
According to the US Space Force, the mysterious X-37B reusable spaceplane belonging to them will fly into orbit on December 7 this year using a Falcon Heavy rocket. The new, seventh secret mission into space was named USSF-52.
This airplane, created by Boeing, was first sent into space in 2010. The first four launches into orbit were carried out by Atlas V rockets, and the other two by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rockets. It is not known why a new launch vehicle was chosen for the new flight. Experts suggest that this may be due to changes in the design of the X-37B spaceplane, as well as the fact that it carries a heavier payload.
There is almost no information about this mission, as well as the previous ones, because the US Space Force does not provide many details about such flights. It is also never known in which orbit the aircraft is flying and how long it will stay in space. Often, only the date of launch and the fact of returning to Earth after the mission is known.
Representatives of the U.S. Space Force said only that the secret aircraft would fly in the same orbit as before and would again be used as a test site for new experimental technologies. It is also known that, following the flight, the US military should receive more extensive data on the space environment, as well as on the performance of technologies unknown to the general public. It is known for certain that an experiment commissioned by NASA will be conducted on board the X-37B to study the effect of cosmic radiation on seeds of various plants.
It is also known that this mission will be long, but how long it will take, as usual, is not reported. For example, the sixth mission of the X-37B spaceplane ended with its landing on Earth on November 12 last year. It lasted 908 days and was the longest space flight for an X-37B aircraft, which began on May 17, 2020.
During the fifth space flight, this aircraft spent 780 days in orbit, 718 days during the fourth, 674 days during the third, 468 days during the second, and 224 days during the debut flight that began and ended in 2010.
By the way, the US Space Force recently presented an interesting image showing a spaceplane that somewhat resembles the mysterious X-37B. The U.S. military said it was just an artistic depiction of an interceptor aircraft, which, judging by the painting, was about to attack an enemy satellite. According to the statement, this image has nothing to do with reality.
