In the darkish of evening, SpaceX will launch the mysterious X-37B area airplane for the U.S. Space Force (USSF).
A Falcon 9 rocket will launch the mission, USSF-36, from Pad 39A, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Florida, carrying the Boeing-built X-37B on the orbital switch automobile’s eighth flight (OTV-8). Launch is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 21, at 11:50 p.m. EDT (0350 GMT, Aug. 22).
SpaceX will broadcast the launch beginning at about 11:30 p.m. EDT (0330 GMT, Aug. 22), with streams available on the USSF-36 mission website and SpaceX’s profile on X.
It is the sixth flight for the Falcon 9 booster supporting the U.S.-36 launch, B1092, which beforehand launched NROL-69, CRS-32, GPS III-7, and Starlink teams 12-13 and 10-34. The booster is predicted to return to the Space Coast for restoration at SpaceX’s Landing Zone-2, situated at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, a couple of miles downrange from the launchpad.
OTV-8 will focus X-37B’s mission on two main expertise demonstrations: a laser communications system and a quantum inertial sensor to check a brand new kind of in-space positioning system, like GPS, in keeping with a July 28 statement Space Force assertion.
These applied sciences signify main developments of their respective fields. Laser communications able to supporting heavier information masses and more durable safety safeguards, in comparison with conventional radio.
And, as a substitute of conventional GPS, X-37B’s quantum sensor will measure the inertia of close by atoms to assist inform the area airplane’s navigational place on orbit, with out reliance on current satellite tv for pc infrastructure.