From Investing.com:

The U.S. military’s X-37B robot spaceplane launched from Florida on Thursday on its seventh mission, onboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. It is part of the U.S.-Sino rivalry in space. The Pentagon has released few details about the X-37B mission. It will conduct technology experiments on long-duration orbital flights.

This is the first time the X-37B launched aboard SpaceX’s more powerful Falcon Heavy rocket, capable of carrying payloads heavier than getting farther into space. The X-37B, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, has operated in low-Earth orbit before, but it is speculated this time it will fly to a highly elliptical orbit or even the vicinity of the moon.

The US is interested in China’s robot spaceplane, Shenlong, which was launched two weeks before the X-37B. The Pentagon is particularly interested in the X-37B’s flight path, duration, and its experiments. In the past, the X-37B’s missions have run for several years before returning to Earth.

The spacecraft is also carrying an experiment for NASA to study plant seeds’ exposure to radiation in space, with an eye towards growing crops in space. The United States and China are both watching each other’s spaceplanes and monitoring their flights closely, with China’s Shenlong being less powerful than the X-37B’s Falcon Heavy.



Read more: US military’s secretive spaceplane launched on possible higher-orbit mission By Reuters