Secretive X-37B Robot Space Plane Was Launched By US Military

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket blasted into space night to ferry the US military’s secretive X-37B plane to a research mission. The rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX teams were again preparing to launch the military's top-secret X-37B robot spaceplane on its seventh mission. The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch at night from NASA's Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral, Florida's Atlantic coast.

About X -37B

• The X-37B is a Boeing vehicle resembling a small space shuttle.
• The US Space Force's secretive X-37B robot space plane was launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. 
• Its seventh mission is being launched on the Falcon Heavy for the first time. 
• The launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre was delayed, but it went ahead following a successful countdown. 
• The Falcon Heavy is the most powerful operational rocket launched in a spectacular display of fire and smoke. 

Significance of X -37B

• The X-37B mission serves as further evidence of the increasing strategic significance of space in both technological innovation and national defence. 
• Its ability to reach higher orbits and potentially venture near the moon constitutes a huge jump in capability, especially in light of the US-China rivalry. 
• This mission can open the path for new space-based surveillance, communication and other classified operations.

Falcon Heavy rocket of SpaceX 

• SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, manufactures the Falcon Heavy rocket.
• SpaceX launched its Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying 24 experimental satellites on reusable rockets.
• SpaceX originally demonstrated the 230-foot-tall Falcon Heavy in February 2018.
• It is considered the world's most powerful performing rocket.
• Its headquarters are in Hawthorne, California (United States of America).

Specifications of Falcon Heavy rocket of SpaceX

• It can lift more than twice as much as the Delta IV Heavy, the closest operational vehicle.
• At full power, Falcon Heavy's 27 Merlin engines provide more than five million pounds of thrust at lift-off, equivalent to approximately eighteen 747 aircraft.
• It can hoist around 64 metric tonnes into orbit.
• The rocket can launch the equivalent of a fully loaded 737 aircraft into orbit, replete with passengers, luggage, and fuel.