BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – SpaceX successfully launched two rockets from Florida’s Space Coast on Thursday evening.
After several delays, SpaceX finally launched its Falcon Heavy rocket as part of the seventh mission for the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle.
That launch went off at 8:07 p.m. from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center.
Though designated a top-secret mission, launch operators have made statements concerning some of the X-37B mission. The uncrewed, solar-powered, Boeing-built reusable vessel will be used for testing, such as operating the spaceplane in varying orbits, investigating the effects of radiation on different materials and “experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies,” according to a news release.
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“We are excited to expand the envelope of the reusable X-37B’s capabilities, using the flight-proven service module and Falcon Heavy rocket to fly multiple cutting-edge experiments for the Department of the Air Force and its partners,” Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, X-37B program director, said earlier in a statement.
SpaceX said it was the fifth launch and landing of these Falcon Heavy side boosters, which previously supported USSF-44, USSF-67, Hughes JUPTER 3, and NASA’s Psyche mission.
Following booster separation, Falcon Heavy’s two side boosters were scheduled to land on SpaceX’s Landing Zones 1 and 2 (LZ-1 and LZ-2) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Meanwhile, the company also launched its Falcon 9 rocket later in the evening, which will carried 23 Starlink satellites into orbit.
Liftoff for that launch happened at 11:01 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
The Space Coast shattered its annual launch record in 2023.
Thursday night would close the year with launches 71 and 72.
CBS News space consultant Bill Harwood called the launch rate in 2023, phenomenal.
“I never thought I’d see anything like that when I started working out here,” Harwood said.
In November, Florida’s lieutenant governor said 100 launches could happen in 2024.
Reporter James Sparvero asked Harwood about the possibility of a launch every day in the future.
“It would take more people, more hardware, and definitely more launch pads to make one a day possible,” Harwood said. “But you know what, I never thought I’d see rockets landing out here either. Maybe they can get the technology down to where they can do that, but I think that’s a fair ways off.”
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