Posted: Sat, Jan 6, 2024, 5:59 PM ET (2259 GMT)
A Falcon Heavy launched the U.S. military's X-37B spaceplane Dec. 28. The rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 8:07 pm EST (0107 GMT Dec. 29) carrying the X-37B on a mission designated OTV-7. The target orbit for this mission is classified, but observers believe that, based on navigational warnings and the fact that it's launching on a larger rocket than past missions, the vehicle is headed to a highly elliptical, high-inclination orbit, higher than than previous missions. The vehicle will conduct a wide range of tests and deploy a smallsat developed by the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Space Force has not disclosed the length of the mission, but X-37B flights have been getting progressively longer, with the sixth mission lasting 908 days.

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