Launch of X-37B Remains On Track Despite Coronavirus Outbreak Written 9 April 2020
X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA | USAF)
Spaceflight Now reports that although US “military officials said Tuesday the launch of the next satellite for the GPS navigation network – planned for April 29 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket – has been delayed to no earlier than June 30 to avoid exposing launch crews to the COVID-19 viral disease,” Space Force officials are “moving forward with preparations for launch of the military’s X-37B spaceplane aboard the next flight of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket next month, according to Col. Robert Bongiovi, SMC’s launch enterprise director.” Built by The Boeing Company “and readied for launch in a former space shuttle hangar at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, the X-37B spaceplane will be encapsulated inside the Atlas 5’s payload fairing and transported to Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad early next month for integration with the launch vehicle.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)