SpaceX to launch secretive space plane

X-37B craft could spend years orbiting Earth

An infrared view of the X-37B unmanned spacecraft at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (AP)

SpaceX is set to launch a mysterious plane into orbit on Monday as part of a mission for the US Space Force.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:14 pm ET (1:14 am +1 GMT), carrying the secretive X-37B space plane on its seventh mission.

The US Space Force has not disclosed many details about what its plane will be doing in orbit, though previous missions have tested experimental propulsion systems and carried out experiments with “advanced materials”.

The latest mission has a “wide range of test and experimentation objectives”, according to the US Space Force. They include “operating in new orbital regimes, experimenting with space domain awareness technologies and investigating the radiation effects to Nasa materials”.

Ahead of the mission, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said: “This seventh flight of the X-37B continues to demonstrate the innovative spirit of the United States Space Force.”

The uncrewed craft resembles a miniature version of Nasa’s space shuttle, requiring SpaceX’s larger Falcon Heavy rocket booster to deliver it into orbit.

Technicians examining the X-37B unmanned spaceplane at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California (AP)

The launch was originally scheduled for Sunday but had to be pushed back due to poor weather.

“Now targeting Monday, 11 December for Falcon Heavy’s launch of the USSF-52 mission, with weather conditions forecasted to improve to 70 per cent favourable for liftoff on Monday night,” SpaceX posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday. “The team will use the time to complete additional pre-launch check outs.”

It will be the 92nd launch to orbit for SpaceX in 2023, with another eight scheduled before the end of an already record-breaking year for the private space firm.

The X-37B’s return date remains unknown, as does its altitude once it makes it into orbit, though the wording of Space Force’s statement that it will operate in “new orbital regimes” suggests this could be its highest and longest flight to date.

Since its first mission in 2010, the Boeing-built craft has spent the equivalent of 10 years in space over its six flights.

When it does return, the spacecraft will land on a runway, similar to the way Nasa’s space shuttle returned astronauts to Earth.