Atlas 5 rocket lofts mini-shuttle into space for secret mission

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Dec. 11, 2012

An Atlas 5 rocket sent the Air Force's X-37B mini-shuttle on its first repeat flight on Tuesday, kicking off a months-long classified mission reportedly aimed at testing advanced spy satellite sensors.

Image above: A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 41 on Tuesday, carrying the U.S. military's X-37B mini-shuttle into space.

Despite earlier concerns about the weather at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launch went off on time, just after 1 p.m. ET.

Launch of X-37B Mini Space Shuttle on OTV-3 Mission

One-fourth the size of the real space shuttle, the X-37B has captured the imaginations of everyone from amateur satellite trackers to potential military rivals. The X-37B can orbit Earth for months, then re-enter the atmosphere and land autonomously.

Each of the first two X-37B missions ended with the mini-shuttle landing on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Two different X-37Bs were flown for those missions, but this marks the first time that the 29-foot-long, Boeing-built craft has been reflown in space. The X-37B's reusability is one of its big selling points.

The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle 3 (on the image OTV-1)

Although the Air Force has not publicly discussed what the space plane will be doing, experts have surmised that the sensors tested by the X-37B will be used on smaller satellites, including low-cost, 4-inch-wide (10-centimeter-wide) CubeSats that can be tracked from the field using little more than a laptop.

The Air Force says there's a chance this mission will end with a landing on the space shuttle runway here at Florida's Kennedy Space Center.

Images, Video, Text, Credits: USAF / ULA / Reuters / Scott Audette.

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