Today 2025 August18 (Mon) 04:08 Etc/GMT-9

2025/08/21~2025/08/22

Falcon 9 B5 • USSF-36 / OTV-8

A SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket will launch the USSF-36 mission for the U.S. Space Force. The mission's primary payload is the X-37B, a spaceplane also called the Orbital Test Vehicle, on the program's eighth mission. It will be equipped with a service module, which is an attachment to the aft of the vehicle that allows additional experimental payload capability to be carried to orbit. OTV-8 will help demonstrate some new technologies, including laser communications and a quantum inertial sensor. This sensor will test the reliability of navigating in space without traditional GPS. Instead, the sensor will assess its orbital coordinates by measuring the rotation and acceleration of nearby atoms.

📍 SpaceX LC-39A, Florida, Vereinigte Staaten