Secret US spacecraft is launched into orbit by SpaceX

On Thursday night, SpaceX launched a stealthy spacecraft for the US Space Force from Florida using its potent Falcon Heavy rocket. This was the first time the rocket had been used to launch an experimental spacecraft produced by Boeing Co. into orbit.

Launched at 8:07 p.m. local time, the X-37B spaceplane, operated by the Space Force, was embarking on its seventh mission.

The Defense Department launches the X-37B, an unmanned, reusable experimental test platform that resembles a miniature space shuttle, into orbit, sometimes for extended periods of time.

Before launch, which happened on Thursday following multiple earlier postponements, the X-37B's most recent mission launched in May 2020 and orbited for a record-breaking 908 days.

In November 2022, the X-37B completed its mission by landing on a runway at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility after returning from space.

It is not entirely clear what the X-37B does in orbit.

Many experiments were carried out on the spacecraft during its most recent mission. These included studies conducted for NASA that looked at the effects of prolonged space travel on seeds and the performance of specific materials.

There is little information available about the current mission of the X-37B from the US Space Force.

According to a statement from the Space Force, it "will expand the USSF's knowledge of the space environment for future space domain awareness technologies."

The most recent mission was the X-37B's second flight aboard a SpaceX craft.

In 2017, the spacecraft also launched atop a Falcon 9.