12/11/2023

U.S. Military Spaceplane Poised for Seventh Launch

This is its first launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket

The U.S. military's secretive X-37B robot spaceplane was poised for liftoff from Florida on Monday on its seventh mission to orbit, the vehicle's first launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of lofting it higher than ever before.

The Falcon Heavy, composed of three reusable rocket cores strapped together, was due for blast-off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral during a 10-minute nighttime launch window starting at 8:14 p.m. EST, weather permitting.

Initial plans to launch the spacecraft late on Sunday were scrubbed due to weather. Improved forecasts called for a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions on Monday night, according to U.S. Space Systems Command.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Reuters.