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X-37B Spaceplane to be Launched Into High Orbit Using Falcon Heavy
X-37B Headed Deeper Into Space With Falcon Heavy Rocket's Help [thedrive.com]
The countdown is on for the next mission of the U.S. Space Force's secretive X-37B spaceplane [thedrive.com]. While all of the X-37B's missions so far have been highly intriguing, to say the least, the next one — the seventh — will involve some particular novelties. Not only will it explore what the Space Force describes as "new orbital regimes," but the reusable spaceplane will ride atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful commercial rocket operational anywhere in the world, with the potential to put it into much higher orbit [thedrive.com] than was possible on previous missions.
The Space Force announced yesterday that X-37B Mission 7 is scheduled to launch from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 7, 2023. The spaceplane's first mission on a Falcon Heavy rocket will be designated USSF-52 and it will be run by the Space Force together with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.
[...] Using the Falcon Heavy rocket comes after six previous missions that employed the medium-lift Atlas V or Falcon 9 rockets.
