SpaceX launches secret US Air Force space plane

Washington Sep 8 (IANS) Ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Irma in Florida SpaceX successfully launched a secret US Air Force space plane from NASA s Kennedy Space Center.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) on its fifth mission blasted off from Launch Complex 39A on Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.

What OTV-5 mission would accomplish is not known.

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed from the ground up by SpaceX for the reliable and cost-efficient transport of satellites and SpaceX s Dragon spacecraft.

Following stage separation Falcon 9 s first stage landed at SpaceX s Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Florida SpaceX tweeted.

In 2014 SpaceX signed a 20-year lease with NASA for the use of Launch Complex 39A. Since then the company has made significant upgrades to modernise the pad s structures and ground systems.

--IANS
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