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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER – SpaceX effectively unveiled the first of two projects scheduled for Thursday night, with the USSF-52 Falcon Heavy project lifting off on its fourth attempt.
After scrapping the project several times, SpaceX finally unveiled a Boeing spaceplane at 8:07 p. m. ET on Dec. 28 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
45 Weather Squadron gave an 80% chance of favorable conditions, with fear being the rule of Cumulus clouds.
This project, in collaboration with Space Systems Command, will be presented several times.
Sunday, Dec. 10: The launch was scheduled for Sunday at 8:14 p. m. m. HEY, but it was delayed until the next day because the weather was intended to improve.
Monday, December 11: This second attempt had a 10-minute launch window set at 8:14 p. m. m. HE, but SpaceX delayed it until 8:24 p. m. ET before clearing the flight completely. A “ground issue” occurred and SpaceX forced it out.
Tuesday, Dec. 12: This third attempt was scrubbed the night before because SpaceX wanted “to perform additional system checkouts”.
SpaceX was hoping for a double launch with this project and a Starlink project, but it wasn’t planned to happen.
The Falcon Heavy has 3 Falcon nine thrusters. After the stages separated, the two boosters landed on SpaceX’s landing zones 1 and 2 at the Cape Canaveral space station as sonic booms were heard.
The Falcon Heavy’s B1084 center thruster (the center booster) will be launched into the Atlantic Ocean. This will be your first mission.
The two secondary power-ups, B1064 and B1065, already have four successful missions to their name:
USSF-44 Mission
USSF-67 Mission
JUPITER 3
USSF-52 will send the X-37B orbiter, a seventh project for the Boeing-made spaceplane.
Aboard the unmanned space plane, also known as the OTV-7, a series of top-secret experiments will take place. The U. S. Space Force The U. S. Department of Homeland Security said the spacecraft will conduct tests such as “operating in new orbital regimes, experimenting with space-domain awareness technologies. ” and reading the effects of radiation on NASA materials.
“We have finished pre-launch paints for our next launch in the National Security Space, which is the third Falcon Heavy used to release a national security payload,” the brigadier general said. Kristin Panzenhagen, director of the space access program and commander of the Delta 45 space launch, in a press release from the Space Systems Command (SSC).
Neither the SSC nor the U.S. Space Force stated how long the X-37B will be in orbit for the USSF-52 mission, but in November 2022 when it came in for its landing of its last mission, it spent 908 days in orbit.
After all, when the X-37B returns to Earth, people will expect to hear a supersonic blast.
At a quarter of the shuttle’s length, the Boeing-made craft is designed to operate in low-Earth orbit, about 150 to 500 miles above the circular Earth, Boeing described.
Without specifying exactly what the X-37B is made of, Boeing said the spaceplane was built with a composite design that is lighter than aluminum.
“USSF-52 is conducting the seventh X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle project, which is an experimental program demonstrating technologies for a reliable and reusable unmanned space platform for the U. S. Space Force,” the SSC said.