The Space Force launched its X-37B spaceplane late Thursday for its eighth experimental mission.

The spacecraft flew from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. While many of the experiments it will conduct in the coming months are classified, the Space Force has identified space-based laser communications and quantum sensing as two of its focus areas.

“These experiments come as part of a broader push across the U.S. Space Force to uphold the safety and security of the space domain by enhancing the resilience and flexibility of U.S. orbital systems,” the service said in July when it announced the launch.

For the communications experiment, the service will coordinate with commercial satellite networks in low Earth orbit, about 1,200 miles above the Earth’s

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