SpaceX Launches Ultra-Secretive Space Force Plane

HAWTHORNE, CA — The South Bay's SpaceX successfully launched one of the military's most secretive missions Thursday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The launch of the U.S. Space Force "Orbital Test Vehicle" is the seventh mission of the X-37B spaceplane, an uncrewed and autonomous plane designed to reach unprecedented altitudes for cutting-edge research, CNN reported.

It was launched by a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket shortly after 5 p.m. California time. No details of the X- 37B's mission or destination were released.

According to Space Systems Command, the plane is a test program "to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform" for the Space Force.

The X-37B vehicle is built by Boeing and roughly resembles a smaller version of a space shuttle. The unmanned craft is capable of landing back on Earth like an airplane.

This launch was first time a SpaceX Falcon Heavy was used to launch the plane, hinting at a more distant destination.

“I think it’s one of the most interesting things that’s happened in space in a long time, whatever it’s going to do,” Paul Graziani, CEO of COMSPOC, a company dedicated to tracking objects in space told CNN.

City News Service contributed to this report.