The US’s uncrewed X-37B military spaceplane is expected to launch from Cape Canaveral air force station, in Florida, on 16 May.
The Boeing craft will be carried into orbit by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. This will be its sixth launch, and the first to be the responsibility of the newly-created US Space Force. For the first time, the X-37B will be fitted with a service module that will increase the amount of experiments it can carry.
The module will augment the spacecraft’s cargo bay. Alongside classified work, the mission will perform two Nasa experiments to study the results of radiation and other space effects on various materials and plant seeds, and a US naval research laboratory experiment to transform solar energy into radio waves, which can then be transmitted to the ground.
The mission will also deploy the FalconSat-8, a small test satellite carrying five experimental payloads designed by the US Air Force Academy. The X-37B measures 8.9 metres with a wingspan of 4.55 metres. Its fifth mission came to an end in October 2019 after 780 days in orbit.
