BLAST OFF
Elon Musk launches US Space Force’s secretive X-37B spaceplane days after Chinese ‘divine dragon’ blast-off
Plus more on China's mysterious spacecraft below
THE US GOVERNMENT'S mysterious X-37B space plane has lifted off for its seventh mission.
Liftoff happened on Thursday night, December 28, 2023, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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SpaceX's powerful Falcon rocket lifted the military’s X-37B space plane into space.
X-37B, which is uncrewed and operates autonomously, could be seen shooting into low-earth orbit on SpaceX’s website.
A few hours after successfully lifting off, the side boosters returned to Earth and safely touched down, CNN .
The space plane rose to its highest orbit yet and could be in space for as long as 18 months.
Still, it's unclear exactly where X-37B is going as it remains shrouded in mystery.
In the past, the space plane has carried out research on solar energy for use on Earth and studying the effects of radiation on seeds.
The mission lifted off into space just days after China launched its equally mysterious Divine Dragon spacecraft.
That aircraft blasted off on Thursday, December 14, via a Long March 2F rocket.
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It was the third launch for the spacecraft and came just seven months after the plane's last lift-off.
This suggests that China is ramping up its mission timeline to dominate space exploration.
General Chance Saltzman, US Space Force's Chief of Space Operations, said earlier that week that SpaceX's and China's lift-off timing was not a coincidence.
"These are two of the most watched objects in orbit while they're in orbit," he said.
"It's probably no coincidence that they're trying to match us in timing and sequence of this," he added.
It appears the spacecraft is testing Chinese payloads and orbital operations.
Air reports stated that the test spacecraft will "operate in orbit for a period of time," per .
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