SpaceX launched the Air Force\u2019s super-secret space shuttle on Thursday, a technology tester capable of spending years in orbit. The unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off from Florida\u2019s Kennedy Space Center, as schools and businesses boarded up for Hurricane Irma. It\u2019s the fifth flight for one of these crewless minishuttles, known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. The two Air Force space planes have already logged a combined 5 \u00bd years in orbit. But officials won\u2019t say what the spacecraft are doing up there. The last mission lasted almost two years and ended with a May touchdown at the runway formerly used by NASA\u2019s space shuttles. The first one launched in 2010. As has become customary, SpaceX landed its leftover booster back at Cape Canaveral for eventual reuse. This was the first time SpaceX has provided a lift for the experimental minishuttle. The previous missions relied on United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V rockets. Air Force officials said they want to use a variety of rockets for the X-37B program, to launch quickly if warranted. The Boeing-built minishuttle is 29 feet long, with a 14-foot wingspan. By comparison, NASA\u2019s retired space shuttles were 122 feet long, with a 78-foot wingspan. SpaceX stopped providing details about the X-37B\u2019s climb to orbit, a few minutes after liftoff at the Air Force\u2019s request. The booster\u2019s return to SpaceX\u2019s landing zone at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, however, was broadcast live. \u201cThe Falcon has safely landed,\u201d a SpaceX launch controller announced. Cheers erupted at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California. It was SpaceX\u2019s 16th successful return of a first-stage booster. Booster rockets are normally discarded at sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SpaceX launched the Air Force\u2019s super-secret space shuttle on Thursday, a technology tester capable of spending years in orbit. The unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off from Florida\u2019s Kennedy Space Center, as schools and businesses boarded up for Hurricane Irma. It\u2019s the fifth flight for one of these crewless minishuttles, known as the X-37B Orbital Test […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48688,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48687"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/toptrendingnews.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}