Next X-37B launch now scheduled for early December on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy
The next X-37B launch has now been scheduled for a December 7, 2023 launch, and will be sent into orbit for the first time on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.
The mission, designated USSF-52, will conduct a wide range of tests, including operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA, the Space Force said in a statement Nov. 8. “We are excited to expand the envelope of the reusable X-37B’s capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, the X-37B program director. The NASA experiment onboard, known as Seeds-2, will expose plant seeds to the harsh radiation environment of long-duration spaceflight.
SpaceX was awarded a $130 million contract in June 2018 to launch USSF-52. The mission was originally scheduled to launch in 2021 and has been delayed by payload and range availability.
The use of the Falcon Heavy suggests the payloads on this next flight are heavier and require that rocket’s extra boost. This will be the seventh X-37B flight of the Space Force’s fleet of two reusable mini-shuttles, beginning in 2010. The previous mission lasted 908 days in orbit, and landed one year ago in November.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The next X-37B launch has now been scheduled for a December 7, 2023 launch, and will be sent into orbit for the first time on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket.
The mission, designated USSF-52, will conduct a wide range of tests, including operating the reusable spaceplane in new orbital regimes, experimenting with space domain awareness technologies, and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA, the Space Force said in a statement Nov. 8. “We are excited to expand the envelope of the reusable X-37B’s capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, the X-37B program director. The NASA experiment onboard, known as Seeds-2, will expose plant seeds to the harsh radiation environment of long-duration spaceflight.
SpaceX was awarded a $130 million contract in June 2018 to launch USSF-52. The mission was originally scheduled to launch in 2021 and has been delayed by payload and range availability.
The use of the Falcon Heavy suggests the payloads on this next flight are heavier and require that rocket’s extra boost. This will be the seventh X-37B flight of the Space Force’s fleet of two reusable mini-shuttles, beginning in 2010. The previous mission lasted 908 days in orbit, and landed one year ago in November.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
The speculation is not that the X-37B will be heavier, but that it will be injected into a much higher orbit. The phrase “expand the envelope” would seem to support that contention.
Boeing (the OEM) says it’s good for 500 miles altitude. Previous missions (1 – 5) have a maximum altitude of only 262 miles. Reference here: https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/x-37.htm
Will be interesting to see what the ground observers like Dr. Langbroek ferret out.
Chuck: Good point. I was thinking mass, but higher altitude is just as important, if not more so.
Falcon Heavy for the win! But there must be more than seeds on the manifest…
But there must be more than seeds on the manifest…
“Rods from God” for Gaza?
In this case, will higher orbit lead to longer time in orbit, for the amount of fuel carried?