— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 26, 2023 The USSF’s X-37B space plane is on its seventh trip to space and its first since returning home in November 2022 after spending a record 908 days in orbit, beating its longest stay by 129 days. The vehicle, which looks similar to NASA’s decommissioned space shuttle, is part of what the USSF describes as “an experimental test program” aimed at developing “reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space, and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth,” though much of the plane’s specific activities are kept secret. Thursday’s mission marked the ninth flight for SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy since its first launch five years ago. It last flew in October when it deployed the Psyche spacecraft for NASA on a mission to explore a metal asteroid. Comprising three Falcon 9 boosters, the Falcon Heavy packs 5.5 million pounds of thrust at launch, making it one of the most powerful rockets currently in operation. SpaceX has also started testing a way more powerful rocket — the Starship — which packs a colossal 17 million pounds of thrust, making it the most powerful rocket ever to fly. However, its first two test flights, conducted in April and November this year, ended in midair explosions.