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OTV-6 is the third mission for the first X-37B built, and the sixth X-37B mission overall. It flew on an Atlas V in the 501 configuration, and launched from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41. [4] This flight is the first time the space plane has been equipped with a service module to carry additional pieces for experiments.
The sixth X-37B mission (OTV-6), U.S. Space Force 7 (formerly known as AFSPC 7), launched on an Atlas V 501 rocket from Cape Canaveral SLC-41 on 17 May 2020 at 13:14:00 UTC. [95] This mission is the first time the spaceplane has carried a service module, a ring attached to the rear of the vehicle for hosting multiple experiments. [96]
A month before launch, the Air Force announced that the mission would fly an X-37B spaceplane. [6] OTV-7 was deployed into a highly elliptical HEO orbit of 323 km (201 mi) x 38,838 km (24,133 mi) x 59.1° orbit. [6] [16] In Oct 2024, OTV-7 was due to undertake aerobraking maneuvers to safely dispose of its service module. [17]
The launch was the first flight of the Atlas V 501 configuration, [10] and the first in four years to use a 5.4-meter (18 ft) payload fairing. [10] [11] Prior to the installation of the spacecraft, the Atlas rocket was moved to the launch pad and performed a wet dress rehearsal on 2 April 2010. [12]
The spacecraft also includes the 165-foot Starship spacecraft itself, which flew for more than an hour before splashing down at 6:05 p.m. ET in the Indian Ocean.
OTV-5 is the third mission for the second X-37B, [4] and the fifth X-37B mission overall. It flew on Falcon 9 booster B1040 from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A, which touched down at Landing Zone 1 following launch. [5] It was fastest turnaround of a X-37B at 123 days.
USA-240, also referred to as Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (OTV-3), is the second flight of the first Boeing X-37B, an American unmanned robotic vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. It was launched to low Earth orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral on 11 December 2012.
Contact with Venera 1 was lost 7 days after launch. It was the first spacecraft to fly by Venus, or indeed any planet. [76] Mariner 2: Venus 27 August 1962 14 December 1962 110 days (3 months, 18 days) Mariner 2 flew by Venus at a minimum distance of 34,773 km. It was the first spacecraft to return data from Venus. [77] Mars 1: Mars 1 November 1962