Space X successfully launched a military space plane ahead of Hurricane Irma which was barreling toward the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was fired into orbit on Thursday with the U.S Air Force’s X-37B space plane, Space.com reported.
It was the last chance to get the rocket launched before the powerful storm passed through the area. Reports from the scene described the weather as calm and clear.
"If you looked outside you would not know a hurricane is expected," SpaceX spokesman John Taylor told CNN on Thursday morning. "It's a typical sunny Florida morning."
The Boeing-built X-37B’s mission is shrouded in mystery, with very little being said about the secretive military project.
The company later confirmed that, following stage separation, the Falcon 9’s first stage successfully landed at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The Verge noted this was the first time that SpaceX had launched the X-37B, which previously shot into space atop of the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rockets.
Earlier this year Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced that the space plane would fly into space on SpaceX’s Falcon 9.
Air Force officials told Space Flight Now that this was OTV’s fifth mission, adding that it “continues to advance the X-37B’s performance and flexibility as a space technology demonstrator and host platform for experimental payloads.”
It also noted that “this mission carries small satellite ride shares and will demonstrate greater opportunities for rapid space access and on-orbit testing of emerging space technologies.”
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