US Space Force launches the mysterious X-37B space plane
WASHINGTON — The enigmatic X-37B space plane is back in orbit after a Sunday morning launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
After strong ground winds at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida caused the postponement of the launch mission on Saturday, the Atlas V finally blasted off a day later at 9:14 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The Boeing-made X-37B is an unmanned, reusable spacecraft that takes off vertically and lands horizontally on a runway. The U.S. Air Force, which owns two X-37B vehicles, has historically been reticent to comment on the capabilities of the X-37B and what it does during its extended time in space, aside from hosting scientific experiments.
“We’ve learned a lot from the X-37,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond told a small group of reporters ahead of the launch. “One of the things that we’ve learned is the value of reusability, and I think as a Space Force there’s a couple things that we’re really going to value, and reusability is one of those and autonomy is another one.”
A live video stream of the launch showed the Atlas V lifting off into space and the separation of the rocket’s first stage from the Centaur upper stage. However, the live stream cut out afterward due to the extreme secrecy surrounding the capabilities of the X-37B, said ULA CEO Tory Bruno.
“It’s a classified mission, and what is classified about it is the details of the vehicle itself, the mission it will do on orbit and where it will do that,” he said. “Therefore we have to stop the live broadcast so that we do not make it easy for adversaries to figure those things out by having that much data about the flight and deployment.”
Sunday’s launch marked the start of the X-37B’s sixth mission, which will involve more experiments than any previous mission thanks to a new service module added to the aft of the vehicle.
https://www.defensenews.com/space/2020/05/17/the-space-force-just-launched-the-mysterious-x-37b-space-plane/