SpaceX launches US military space drone for a secret mission

rocket Falcon Heavy Of spacex flew this Thursday night to transport US military space drone X-37B on a research missionTycoon-owned company announced Elon Musk,

After several weeks of continuous delays, the rocket lifted off at 20:07 (01:07 GMT on Friday). Kennedy Space Center in the state of Florida (Southeast).

The takeoff was broadcast live on the SpaceX website. No information was given about the fate of the space drone, an unmanned shuttle that is on its seventh mission.

But the Pentagon revealed Little data about the space drone and its new missionInitially scheduled for 7 December.

In the statement reporting the launch, SpaceX limited itself to citing the code name given by the Pentagon for the mission: USSF-52,

,Falcon Heavy launches USSF-52 mission into orbit from Launch Pad 39ASpaceX said. The Pentagon previously announced that the seventh mission, X-37B, would include “numerous cutting-edge experiments.”

NASA’s Rapid Capabilities Office announced last month, “These tests include operating reusable spacecraft in new orbital regimes, experimenting with future space domain knowledge technologies, and assessing the effects of radiation on NASA-provided materials.” “Includes investigating.” Air Force.

According to the statement, This is the first time that the X-37B was launched with Falcon HeavyOne of the most powerful rockets and capable of carrying utility loads of up to 26,700 kg to the depths of space.

Shrouded in complete secrecy, the X-37B made its first flight in 2010 and has spent a total of more than ten years in space. during its first six missions, after completing its sixth mission in November 2022, according to its manufacturer, American aeronautics manufacturer Boeing.

The X-37B was designed for the US Air Force United Launch Allianceis a company jointly formed by boeing And Lockheed Martin,

It is nine meters long, has a wingspan of 4.5 meters and is powered by solar panels.

Its launch, powered by a Falcon Heavy, comes two weeks after China launched its own reusable robotic spacecraft into orbit shen long, on 14 December. State Press Agency by Xinhua The report said that it had been planned “for some time” to conduct scientific experiments aimed at “providing technical support for the peaceful uses of space”.

(With information from AFP)