US Space Force Prepares for Upcoming Military Spaceplane Mission
The duration of the mission was not disclosed However, a prior flight took years.
A secret, undiscovered, US Space Force spaceplane that is reusable and operated by the United States Space Force is scheduled to launch the eighth time on Wednesday, August 21 at Kennedy Space Center.
Space Force is not revealing the duration of this forthcoming mission, nor the exact time of military spaceplane launch however, does an Federal Aviation Administration advisory indicate that the launch window falls from 11:40 p.m. ET in the evening on Thursday, and between 5:11 a.m. ET on Friday.
Created by Boeing and Boeing, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an uncrewed and autonomous spacecraft that is used by the U.S. military uses to test the latest technology and conduct experiments on both low and high Earth orbits. The spacecraft’s existence is public, but much of what it does is kept secret. The Space Force has acknowledged it is in space and only confirms it has returned to Earth at the end of Space Force mission.
Resembling a miniaturized space shuttle, the X-37B can’t make it into orbit without a ride on the side of a rocket. For this mission, it will be inside the protective fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The carbon composite fairing covers and protects it during launch before being released into orbit.
Launch windows for the X-37B are usually one to two years, giving it ample time to do its work in space. It is able to return to Earth in the same way as an airplane and landing on or both the East or West Coast.
The first launch was in 2010 and it was launched in 2010. The spacecraft has traveled more than 1.3 billion miles on orbit the longest of which running for 908 days as per Boeing.
The military is especially interested in laser communications as they are regarded to be more secure than conventional radio frequencies and are able to transmit more information. The quantum sensor will reveal how the secret spaceplane US is able to navigate without the need for satellite networks, such as GPS.
