Atlas 5 launches X-37
Posted: Fri, Apr 23, 2010, 7:01 AM ET (1101 GMT)
An Atlas 5 rocket launched a secretive military spaceplane Thursday evening. The Atlas 5 501 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:52 pm EDT (2352 GMT) and placed the X-37B vehicle into low Earth orbit about 20 minutes later. The X-37B, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, is an unmanned "mini-shuttle" designed to test various unspecified technologies and then reenter, gliding to a runway landing in California. The X-37 was initially a NASA program to demonstrate RLV technologies, but later transferred to DARPA and then the Air Force, which has released few details about the vehicle and its mission.
An Atlas 5 rocket launched a secretive military spaceplane Thursday evening. The Atlas 5 501 lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, at 7:52 pm EDT (2352 GMT) and placed the X-37B vehicle into low Earth orbit about 20 minutes later. The X-37B, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, is an unmanned "mini-shuttle" designed to test various unspecified technologies and then reenter, gliding to a runway landing in California. The X-37 was initially a NASA program to demonstrate RLV technologies, but later transferred to DARPA and then the Air Force, which has released few details about the vehicle and its mission.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, July 22
MDA Space UK Selected by OHB to Provide Advanced Lunar Landing Sensors for European Space Agency’s Argonaut Mission
MDA — 4:27 am ET (0827 GMT) ESA seeks novel concepts for a fast asteroid reconnaissance mission
ESA — 4:27 am ET (0827 GMT) Poland joins mission to free Europe from Starlink dependence
TVP World — 4:26 am ET (0826 GMT) Western Range supports its 50th Launch of the year
US Space Force — 4:24 am ET (0824 GMT) SpaceX Set to Unlock $116 Billion in Shares After IPO Restrictions Lift
Bloomberg News — 4:22 am ET (0822 GMT) |
