The robots are carrying rockets now, and there's no reason at all to be alarmed. Researchers in China recently launched low-altitude sounding rockets from an uncrewed semi-submersible vessel (USSV) in which they say is the first such launch from a USSV. Usually, sounding rockets are launched from facilities on land -- NASA's Wallops Space Flight Center alone launches about 25 a year -- or from aircraft carriers or other crewed vessels. NASA has used sounding rockets since 1959 to study Earth's atmosphere, observe the effects of weightlessness, and test instruments for future space missions. Like the name "semi-submersible" suggests, the USSV travels mostly underwater, with only its equipment compartment sticking up above the waterline.

Source: Forbes February 01, 2019 02:37 UTC