The U.S. military’s enigmatic X-37B robotic spaceplane embarked on its seventh mission, marking the first time it was launched atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, capable of delivering it to a higher orbit than ever before.
The Falcon Heavy, comprised of three liquid-fueled rocket cores strapped together, thundered off its launch pad from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, a spectacular liftoff captured on a SpaceX webcast.
This launch came after over two weeks of delays attributed to poor weather and unspecified technical issues, leading to ground crews rolling the spacecraft back to its hangar before successfully proceeding with Thursday’s flight.
The mission follows China’s launch of its own robot spaceplane, known as the Shenlong or “Divine Dragon,” on its third mission to orbit since 2020, adding a new dimension to the growing U.S.-Sino space rivalry.
Details about the X-37B mission, conducted by the U.S. Space Force under the military’s National Security Space Launch program, remain classified.
The X-37B has undertaken six prior missions since 2010, with the first five launched by Atlas V rockets from United Launch Alliance and the most recent in May 2020 atop a Falcon 9 booster from Elon Musk’s SpaceX.