Aug. 21 (UPI) — SpaceX launched an experimental space plane for the U.S. Space Force from Florida late Thursday.
A Falcon 9 rocket launched the Space Force’s X-37B space plane from Kennedy Space Center at 11:50 p.m. EDT.
“Liftoff!” SpaceX said on X in celebration following the launch.
Meteorologists had forecast a 65% chance for favorable conditions for liftoff, with improving conditions to 80% favorable as the window progressed. Meteorologists had been monitoring any impact Hurricane Erin would as it moved alongside the East Coast.
“The very large Hurricane Erin will continue moving north and eventually northeast off the eastern coast of the US and out into the open Atlantic through the remainder of the week,” launch weather officers wrote. “As it does so, it will leave behind a trailing trough and deeper moisture that will merge with a boundary dropping into the southeastern U.S. Prevailing flow will shift out of the west into Thursday, which will lead to the best coverage of afternoon and evening storms favoring the east side of the state including the Spaceport.”
The Boeing-made X-37B will carry out the mission USSF-36, also known as Orbital Test Vehicle 8, as the Space Force attempts to test a new in-space positioning system.
The mission will include demonstrations of a laser communications system and what the Space Force has hailed as “the world’s highest performing quantum inertial sensor ever used in space.”
“OTV-8’s quantum inertial sensor demonstration is a welcome step forward for operational resilience in space,” said Col. Ramsey Horn, Space Delta 9 commander. “Whether navigating beyond Earth-based orbits in cislunar space or operating in GPS-denied environments, quantum inertial sensing allows for robust navigation capabilities when GPS navigation is not possible.”
This is the sixth flight for the Falcon 9 booster; NROL-69, CRS-32, GP III-7 and Starlink groups 12-13 and Group 10-34 all used this booster.