A solid layer of clouds hovering over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early Sunday seemed to know that an Atlas V rocket perched at Launch Complex 40 had a secretive payload on board.
Much like the national security shroud that conceals the X-37B spaceplane's objectives in orbit, the low-lying clouds quickly obscured the rocket's 9:14 a.m. ascent and eastward arc over the Atlantic Ocean. Just five minutes after liftoff when the second stage separated, United Launch Alliance ended its live updates of mission milestones, a move that limits what adversaries could glean about the payload and its capabilities.
The Air Force-owned spacecraft is flown by the Space Force, giving Sunday's flight the designation of U.S. Space Force 7, or USSF-7. There are only two X-37Bs in service, but both have broken record after record when it comes to time in space, the last of which orbited 780 days before landing at Kennedy Space Center's former Shuttle Landing Facility.
Capable of flying on Atlas V or SpaceX's Falcon 9, the twin X-37Bs have flown on six Orbital Test Vehicle missions to date.
"The value of the X-37 is you can launch it, you can do experiments, and then you can bring those experiments back down to Earth," Space Force commander Gen. John "Jay" Raymond told FLORIDA TODAY, adding that Sunday's mission included a new service module. "By adding this service module, you increase the capacity. It allows us to put more experiments and garner even more utility out of this capability."
When taking a break on the ground, the reusable spaceplanes built by Boeing are stored in a former space shuttle hangar near the Vehicle Assembly Building. If their overall capabilities seem like they draw inspiration from the shuttles, that's because they do – vertical launch, horizontal landing, based at KSC. . .
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