SpaceX delayed the launch of its Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the secretive X-37B spacecraft by at least one day due to weather

Elon Musk’s SpaceX announced Sunday that a planned Space Force mission involving the U.S. military’s secretive X-37B spacecraft has been pushed back a day due to the weather.

The launch was initially scheduled to occur Sunday at 8:14 p.m. ET at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida but has been delayed to the same time Monday evening when weather conditions are expected to be more conducive to the launch. 

당초 발사는 일요일 오후 8시 14분에 이뤄질 예정이었다. ET는 플로리다에 있는 NASA의 케네디 우주 센터에 있지만 기상 조건이 발사에 더 도움이 될 것으로 예상되는 월요일 저녁 같은 시간으로 연기되었습니다.

SpaceX said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that it’s "Now targeting Monday, December 11 for Falcon Heavy’s launch of the USSF-52 mission, with favorable weather conditions forecasted to improve to 70% favorable for liftoff on Monday night."

SpaceX는 X(이전 트위터)의 게시물에서 "이제 Falcon Heavy의 USSF-52 임무 발사를 12월 11일 월요일로 목표로 삼고 있으며 월요일 밤 이륙에 유리한 기상 조건이 70%로 개선될 것으로 예상됩니다"라고 밝혔습니다.

The Boeing X-37B is an unmanned, robotic spacecraft operated by the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office in collaboration with the Space Force based on an earlier variant of the spacecraft used by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

보잉 X-37B는 미국 항공우주국(NASA)이 사용했던 우주선의 초기 변형을 기반으로 우주군과 협력하여 공군의 신속 능력 사무국이 운영하는 무인 로봇 우주선입니다.

Also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, the X-37B is designed as a reusable spacecraft launched vertically into orbit by a launch vehicle and eventually re-enters Earth’s atmosphere as a spaceplane landing horizontally on a runway. 

The Air Force has said it’s the first vehicle since NASA’s shuttle orbiter with the ability to return experiments to Earth for analysis. 

While much of its operations and testing remains secret, the service said in a fact sheet that technologies tested by the X-37B include advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high-temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, advanced propulsion systems, advanced materials and autonomous orbital flight.

운영 및 테스트의 대부분은 비밀로 유지되지만, 미 공군은 X-37B가 테스트한 기술에는 고급 유도, 항법 및 제어, 열 보호 시스템, 항공 전자 공학, 고온 구조 및 밀봉, 등각 재사용 가능한 단열재, 경량 전기 기계 비행 시스템, 첨단 추진 시스템, 첨단 재료 및 자율 궤도 비행.

The X-37B is designed to remain in space for extended-duration missions lasting at least 270 days – though some of its missions have lasted much longer. The X-37B’s fifth mission reached 780 days in orbit, while its sixth mission ran from May 17, 2020, to Nov. 12, 2022, a total of 908 days in orbit. 

In 2019, former Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said the X-37 was "fascinating" because it can turn to alter its orbit when it’s close to the Earth. She added that "means our adversaries don’t know… where it’s going to come up next."

The upcoming X-37 mission would be the spacecraft’s seventh spaceflight since its debut in April 2010. It would be the first time an X-37 has been launched into orbit on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Its fifth mission was launched on a Falcon 9 rocket, while the last mission used an Atlas V rocket.

다가오는 X-37 임무는 2010년 4월 데뷔 이후 우주선의 7번째 우주 비행이 될 것입니다. X-37이 SpaceX Falcon Heavy 로켓을 타고 궤도로 발사되는 것은 이번이 처음입니다. 다섯 번째 임무는 Falcon 9 로켓으로 발사되었고, 마지막 임무는 Atlas V 로켓을 사용했습니다.