SpaceX’s powerful Falcon Heavy rocket will be flying again by the end of the year, if all goes to plan.
SpaceX is currently targeting a Dec. 28 launch date for the U.S. Space Force’s X-37B spacecraft, which will fly aboard the Falcon Heavy from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
When the time comes, you can watch it happen on Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX.
Related: Space Force’s secret X-37B spaceplane: 10 surprising facts
SpaceX was originally scheduled to launch its X-37B robot on December 11, but canceled the launch about 30 minutes before the scheduled launch that day, citing problems with ground equipment. If the large plane were to fly on Dec. 28 as currently scheduled, the resulting delay would be extended by 17 days.
The launch will be the seventh overall for the 29-foot (8.8-meter) X-37B, which military officials say is primarily an orbital testbed for new space technology.
It’s unclear how long the X-37B’s mission will last. Most details of the spaceplane’s flight are classified, including the identity and purpose of most of its payloads. However, there is no doubt that the flight time will be longer. Each previous X-37B mission has been longer than its predecessor, with the most recent mission flying for 908 days before returning home in November 2022.
Falcon Heavy has been launched eight times so far, with four already scheduled for 2023.
The Heavy, the second most powerful rocket currently in operation after NASA’s Space Launch System, last flew in October this year when it launched NASA’s Psyche spacecraft into the asteroid belt.