SpaceX announced that on Dec. 28, it plans to launch the US military’s X-37B robot spaceplane on its seventh orbital mission.
On Friday, SpaceX stated in a post on X platform that it was “now targeting no earlier than Thursday, December 28 for Falcon Heavy to launch USSF-52 to orbit from Florida.” Earlier this week, the company had cancelled the launch in order to complete further system checkouts.
The Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), often known as the unmanned X-37B spaceplane, is flown by the US Air Force. It has been used for space experiments and is intended for orbital travel. Its sixth orbit launch will occur this time.
Fans of space exploration are thrilled by SpaceX’s update. Due to the X-37B’s previous covert missions, questions were raised regarding its capabilities and objectives. With every launch, more about this enigmatic spacecraft and its possible applications become known.
SpaceX’s Earlier Plan
Due to bad weather in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the first plan to launch the spacecraft into orbit late on Sunday was abandoned.
The unmanned X-37B was scheduled to fly its seventh mission, and this was supposed to be its maiden launch aboard a Falcon Heavy. This type of launch vehicle is made up of three reusable rocket cores joined together, and it can send the aircraft much higher in orbit than it has ever been. However, there were delays.
The X-37B Robot by SpaceX
The X-37B, which is about the size of a compact bus and looks like a tiny space shuttle, is designed to carry out technology experiments and deliver different payloads during lengthy orbital journeys.
In a series of stealth orbital test flights, China successfully launched a reusable robotic spacecraft on Thursday for the third time since 2020. The country claims that the goal of these missions is to develop reusable technologies to lower the cost of space missions.
In order to compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ Kuiper, the EU satellite constellation, valued at 6 billion euros ($6.55 billion), is seeking final offers. Authorities’ say that bureaucracy before deployment could cause the European Commission’s IRIS system to become antiquated and fall behind advancements in AI.
SpaceX in race with China?
According to official media, the unmanned spacecraft was launched on Thursday from the jiuquan satellite launch center in northwest China atop a Long March 2F rocket, the same type of rocket that China uses to send its astronauts into space.
While the historic scientific collaboration agreement needed to be upgraded, there was no guarantee that a new one would be signed, according to U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, who announced on Friday that he had begun discussions with Beijing on the subject.
The United States has accused China of stealing American scientific and commercial innovations, and this has led to a growing controversy around the renewal of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA), the first agreement between the two nations signed in 1979 following the official start of diplomatic ties.
Are SpaceX Rivals ahead?
It was the SpaceX rival Rocket Lab’s first flight since a mission failure in September, and the company said on Friday that it had successfully launched its Electron rocket into space from a site in New Zealand.
From a launch pad on the nation’s North Island, the rocket lifted off at approximately 5:05 p.m. local time (0405 GMT), carrying a satellite for the Japan-based Earth imaging business Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space.
The European Space Agency reported that the most recent malfunction to plague Europe’s troublesome launch sector was the cancellation of the latest test of Europe’s new Ariane 6, while the final flight of Italy’s Vega rocket has been postponed due to critical pieces going missing. ESA stated that preparations for a first launch in mid-2024 should not be impacted by the cancelled test of Ariane 6’s upper stage.
The United States has accused China of stealing American scientific and commercial innovations, and this has led to a growing controversy around the renewal of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA), the first agreement between the two nations signed in 1979 following the official start of diplomatic ties.
