SpaceX launches X-37B military space plane atop Falcon 9 rocket from Florida

SpaceX launches X-37B military space plane

SpaceX launched a Boeing-built X-37B military space plane on a Falcon 9 rocket.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX launched a special military mission atop a Falcon 9 rocket late Thursday night.

What is the USSF-36 mission?

What we know:

SpaceX launched the Boeing-built X-37B military space plane on a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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The rocket was launched from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A).

What's next:

Following stage separation, the first stage landed on SpaceX’s Landing Zone 2 (LZ-2) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The backstory:

This was the sixth flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched NROL-69, CRS-32, GPS III-7 and two Starlink missions.

USSF-36 was the eighth launch of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-8) and the third Falcon launch of the spacecraft, after SpaceX previously launched OTV-5 and OTV-7 (USSF-52).