What Did The Air Force Just Launch Into Space?

What Did The Air Force Just Launch Into Space?: At 1:03 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Air Force launched an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket's cargo, a small shuttle called the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, is an autonomous spacecraft that's been under development by the U.S. government for over a decade --though very few people know exactly what it's supposed to do.