A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket topped with the U.S. Space Force's X-37B space plane stands on the launch pad ahead of a planned December 2023 liftoff. (Image credit: SpaceX)

SpaceX's powerful Falcon Heavy rocket will fly again before the end of the year, if all goes according to plan.

2023년 12월 예정된 이륙을 앞두고 미국 우주군 X-37B 우주선을 얹은 SpaceX 팔콘 헤비 로켓이 발사대 위에 서 있습니다. (이미지 제공: SpaceX)SpaceX의 강력한 Falcon Heavy 로켓은 모든 것이 계획대로 진행된다면 연말 이전에 다시 비행할 것입니다.

SpaceX is now targeting Dec. 28 for the launch of the U.S. Space Force's X-37B space plane, which will fly atop a Falcon Heavy from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

You can watch the action here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, when the time comes.

시간이 되면 SpaceX가 제공하는 Space.com에서 해당 작업을 시청할 수 있습니다.

SpaceX had originally planned to launch the robotic X-37B on Dec. 11. But about 30 minutes before the scheduled liftoff time that day, the company called things off, citing an issue with ground equipment. The resulting delay will now extend for 17 days, if the Heavy flies on Dec. 28 as currently planned.

The coming launch will be the seventh overall for the 29-foot-long (8.8 meters) X-37B, which military officials say is primarily an orbital testbed for new space tech. 

이번 발사는 길이 29피트(8.8미터) X-37B의 일곱 번째 발사가 될 것이며, 군 관계자는 이 발사가 주로 새로운 우주 기술을 위한 궤도 테스트베드라고 말합니다.

It's unclear how long the X-37B mission will last; most details of the space plane's flights, including the identity and purpose of most of its payloads, are classified. But it's safe to assume the flight will be lengthy. Each X-37B mission to date has been longer than its predecessors, and the most recent one stayed aloft for 908 days before coming home in November 2022.

The Falcon Heavy has launched eight times to date, including four times in 2023 already.

The Heavy — the second-most powerful rocket currently in operation, after NASA's Space Launch System — last flew this past October, when it launched NASA's Psyche probe toward the asteroid belt.

NASA의 우주 발사 시스템에 이어 현재 작동 중인 두 번째로 강력한 로켓인 헤비는 지난 10월 NASA의 프시케 탐사선을 소행성대를 향해 발사하면서 마지막으로 비행했습니다.