SpaceX will launch its Falcon 9 rocket for the US military Thursday, carrying the X-37B spaceplane to orbit for its fifth mission. Liftoff for the OTV-5 mission is scheduled for a five-hour, five-minute window opening at 09:50 Eastern time (13:50 UTC) out of the Kennedy Space Center’s Pad 39A in Florida.
Falcon 9 OTV-5 Launch:
Thursday’s launch will begin the X-37B OTV-5 mission, the fifth flight of the US Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), an unmanned reusable spaceplane capable of carrying out operations and experiments in low Earth orbit before returning to Earth.
The Air Force operates a pair of X-37B spacecraft, with missions assumed to alternate between the two vehicles. On this basis, OTV-5 will be the third trip into space for the first X-37B spacecraft.
Developed by Boeing, in partnership with the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the X-37B evolved from NASA’s X-37A vehicle.
The X-37A, which conducted a series of glide tests in 2006 but never flew in space, was designed to be deployed from the Space Shuttle to carry out independent satellite servicing or scientific missions, capable of staying on orbit beyond the end of the Shuttle’s mission. NASA began the X-37 program in 1999, however transferred it to DARPA in 2004.
The military X-37B was originally planned to launch atop the Delta II rocket, without a payload fairing. This was abandoned amid concerns over the aerodynamic properties of the rocket with its unencapsulated payload and instead the first four X-37B missions launched atop United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, inside a five-meter payload fairing.
Thursday’s launch is the first time the X-37B has flown aboard Falcon 9, which also encloses the spacecraft within its fairing.
The X-37B is used to conduct research, technology development and potentially intelligence missions in low Earth orbit. Designed to fly missions of up to 270 days at a time, X-37B’s previous flights have pushed it well beyond this limit, with the recently-completed OTV-4 mission remaining on orbit for 718 days: less than a fortnight short of two years.
Once in orbit, X-37B will deploy a gallium arsenide solar array to charge its batteries and provide power throughout the mission. The spacecraft will also open its cargo bay, allowing experiments to be performed.
The spacecraft measures 8.9 meters (39 feet, 3 inches) in length with a wingspan of 4.5 meters (14 ft, 11 in) and stands 2.9 meters (9 ft, 11 in) tall. At launch it will have a mass of approximately 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb). The Air Force has confirmed that several miniature satellites are also aboard Thursday’s launch. However, it has not clarified whether these are to be deployed from Falcon 9, or the X-37B itself. Read more...
Falcon 9 OTV-5 Launch:
Thursday’s launch will begin the X-37B OTV-5 mission, the fifth flight of the US Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), an unmanned reusable spaceplane capable of carrying out operations and experiments in low Earth orbit before returning to Earth.
The Air Force operates a pair of X-37B spacecraft, with missions assumed to alternate between the two vehicles. On this basis, OTV-5 will be the third trip into space for the first X-37B spacecraft.
Developed by Boeing, in partnership with the Air Force and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the X-37B evolved from NASA’s X-37A vehicle.
The X-37A, which conducted a series of glide tests in 2006 but never flew in space, was designed to be deployed from the Space Shuttle to carry out independent satellite servicing or scientific missions, capable of staying on orbit beyond the end of the Shuttle’s mission. NASA began the X-37 program in 1999, however transferred it to DARPA in 2004.
The military X-37B was originally planned to launch atop the Delta II rocket, without a payload fairing. This was abandoned amid concerns over the aerodynamic properties of the rocket with its unencapsulated payload and instead the first four X-37B missions launched atop United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rocket, inside a five-meter payload fairing.
Thursday’s launch is the first time the X-37B has flown aboard Falcon 9, which also encloses the spacecraft within its fairing.
The X-37B is used to conduct research, technology development and potentially intelligence missions in low Earth orbit. Designed to fly missions of up to 270 days at a time, X-37B’s previous flights have pushed it well beyond this limit, with the recently-completed OTV-4 mission remaining on orbit for 718 days: less than a fortnight short of two years.
Once in orbit, X-37B will deploy a gallium arsenide solar array to charge its batteries and provide power throughout the mission. The spacecraft will also open its cargo bay, allowing experiments to be performed.
The spacecraft measures 8.9 meters (39 feet, 3 inches) in length with a wingspan of 4.5 meters (14 ft, 11 in) and stands 2.9 meters (9 ft, 11 in) tall. At launch it will have a mass of approximately 5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb). The Air Force has confirmed that several miniature satellites are also aboard Thursday’s launch. However, it has not clarified whether these are to be deployed from Falcon 9, or the X-37B itself. Read more...