US Space Force spacecraft X-37B secret mission launch into Earth orbit. The United States Space Force launched the X on a special mission on Thursday. 37B spacecraft was sent into Earth's orbit.
The spacecraft is expected to remain in space for many years to come. In this new mission, the space force, like its previous missions, has launched a spacecraft that can be used repeatedly.
The spacecraft used by the Space Force is similar to the space shuttle, which was retired by NASA, but is much smaller in size. Certain types of secret experiments can be conducted through this spacecraft.
There are no humans on board the spacecraft. The X-37B spacecraft was launched into Earth orbit Thursday night from NASA's Kennedy Space Center by SpaceX's powerful Falcon rocket.
His flight has been delayed by two weeks due to technical reasons. The X-37B began its flights in 2010 and is the seventh mission of the space force in more than ten years. The previous X-37B mission was the longest in the series, landing on the Kennedy Space Center runway last year after two and a half years in space.
Space Force officials did not say how long the Earth-orbiting spacecraft would remain in space or what other instruments it might carry, other than measuring the effects of radiation on various objects.
The X-37B is about a quarter the size of NASA's Space Shuttle. The 29-foot-tall spacecraft carries no astronauts and is equipped with an automatic landing system. This spaceship flies vertically like a rocket but lands on a runway like a normal aircraft when landing. It is designed to orbit the Earth at altitudes between 150 miles and 500 miles.
(Some information for this report was taken from The Associated Press.)
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