Following China. SpaceX rocket brought a secret US military aircraft: what is known (video)

This launch marked another event in the rivalry of the US and China in space. The US Secret Space Aircraft called X-37B went to its seventh mission on board the Falcon Heavy rocket launcher from SpaceX on December 28. For the first time, the X-37B brought it into space that is a rocket that is able to send it to a higher orbit than ever before. As with previous missions, there is no crew on board a multiple space aircraft, The Guardian writes. In focus. Technology has appeared its Telegram channel.

Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! The launch of a secret American space aircraft X-37B took place two weeks later than it was planned. In mid -December, three attempts were made into space, but the launch was transferred due to bad weather, then because of unknown technical problems. The Falcon Heavy rocket was sent to orbit X-37B two weeks after a Chinese secret space plane called "Shenun" flew into space.

If the American unmanned aircraft already took the seventh flight into space, then "Shenun" went to his third mission, as focus has already written. Thus, the exit into the orbit of X-37B marked another event in the rivalry of the US and China in space. It is known that X-37B is a military aircraft, on which the Pentagon tests in space different technologies. He first went to orbit back in 2010.

The previous, sixth mission, ended in November 2022 and it was the longest flight for X-37B-he spent 908 days in orbit. The Pentagon Space Aircraft was built by Boeing and it resembles NASA space rods, although 4 times smaller - its length is 9 meters. The aircraft removes the rocket launcher, and it lands offline as a conventional plane. It is known that X-37B can fly in space at a height of 240 to 800 km.

But the Pentagon did not report what height the X-37B went to, but the Falcon Heavy rocket is able to bring it to a higher orbit than before. As part of the seventh mission on board X-37B, various secret experiments and tests of unknown technologies will be carried out again. An experiment to order NASA will also be conducted, in which scientists want to get data on how the seeds of plants are affected by the long -term effects of cosmic radiation.

It is not known exactly how many X-37B aircraft will continue this time, but some experts believe that a secret aircraft can return to Earth in June 2026. Each mission past mission was longer than the previous one, so the seventh flight into space can be a record. For example, the first X-37B mission lasted 224 days, and the fifth-780 days. The focus has already wrote that the Chinese SHENNUN plane after entering orbit released several unknown objects that sent mysterious signals into space.