SpaceX postpones planned launch of US military’s secretive X-37B spaceplane By Reuters – Canada Boosts

By Joe Skipper and Steve Gorman

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) -A deliberate Monday evening launch of the U.S. army’s secretive X-37B robotic spaceplane on its seventh mission to orbit, and its first flight atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, was postponed for a minimum of 24 hours, SpaceX mentioned.

The flight was known as off for the evening about 25 minutes earlier than the beginning of a focused launch window set to open at 8:14 p.m. EST (0114 GMT Tuesday) because the rocket stood poised for liftoff from NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

In a message posted on the social media platform X, Elon Musk’s California-based rocket enterprise mentioned the countdown was halted “due to a ground side issue,” including that the “vehicle and payload remain healthy.” SpaceX didn’t elaborate.

The corporate didn’t instantly say when it could attempt once more. The mission’s subsequent launch alternative is Tuesday evening, SpaceX mentioned.

The unique plan to ship the spacecraft to orbit late on Sunday was scrubbed on account of poor climate situations on the Cape.

The delays got here on what was to have been the seventh mission flown by the X-37B, and its first launch atop a Falcon Heavy, composed of three reusable rocket cores strapped collectively and able to lofting the car far greater in orbit than ever earlier than.

Roughly the dimensions of a small bus and resembling a miniature area shuttle craft, the X-37B is constructed to deploy numerous payloads and conduct know-how experiments in long-duration orbital flights.

The X-37B has flown six earlier missions since 2010, its final flight lasting properly over two years earlier than the car’s return touchdown in November 2022.

The U.S. Protection Division discloses few particulars about its operation, which is carried out as a part of the army’s Nationwide Safety Area Launch program.