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Heather Wilson: Air Force’s X-35B Spaceplane to Take Off Aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Rocket

Heather Wilson: Air Force’s X-35B Spaceplane to Take Off Aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Rocket - top government contractors - best government contracting event
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Heather Wilson: Air Force’s X-35B Spaceplane to Take Off Aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 Rocket - top government contractors - best government contracting eventThe U.S. Air Force plans to launch a Boeing-built X-37B spaceplane aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in August, Spaceflight Now reported Tuesday.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson announced Tuesday the fifth mission of the spaceplane, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The announcement came a month after one of the service branch’s two X-35Bs landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The military branch launched OTV’s first four missions onboard United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V rockets.

X-37B is a reusable space vehicle that weighs approximately 11,000 pounds, has a wingspan of approximately 15 feet and has revolved around the Earth at an altitude of up to 250 miles.

The OTV spaceplane has orbited the Earth for a total of 2,085 days during the first four missions.

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Written by Jane Edwards

is a staff writer at Executive Mosaic, where she writes for ExecutiveBiz about IT modernization, cybersecurity, space procurement and industry leaders’ perspectives on government technology trends.

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