US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Bad weather delayed the launch of the ULA Atlas V with the X-37B spacecraft. The next launch attempt on Sunday, May 17, at 13:14 GMT.
Created by Boeing, the X-37B Orbital Aircraft (OTV) is a reusable, reusable platform that can operate in low Earth orbit for months or years. The spacecraft facilitates research and experiments in orbit, including the military. Most of the payload of each mission is classified.
The U.S. Air Force has a fleet of two X-37B spaceships that have already completed several space missions. The first X-37B mission to be launched by the U.S. space forces was due to start on Saturday, although overall control of the X-37B program and vehicle ownership remains with the Air Force.
This sixth flight of the X-37B is designated as USSF-7 – part of a series of common designations that are increasingly being used to identify military missions launched.
Once in orbit, the X-37B will receive another designation as part of a series of US launches, which is used to designate US military satellites. Each X-37B also gets a new designation every time it goes into space. Numbering has been assigned sequentially since 2006, so it is expected that USSF-7 in orbit will become US-299.
Saturday launch is Atlas V’s third mission in 2020, after launch in February and March, on which the Solar Orbiter and AEHF-6 spacecraft were launched. When the launch campaign for the X-37B is completed, the space launch complex 41 will be handed over to prepare for the next launch of the Atlas rocket. This will be the launch of NASA‘s flagship Mars 2020 mission, including the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity unmanned aerial vehicle, which is scheduled to launch in mid-July.
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