X-37 returns home

[Vigorous Dragon]

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-14/x-37b-super-secret-spaceship-comes-back-to-earth-after-two-years

So the X-37 has finally come back down. I can't find anything concrete to say it has definitely landed, but I'm assuming they landed it at at Vandenburg, at night and on the down-low.

They say in some reports they suspect it's testing next-gen surveillance equipment, but I don't think it's too far fetched to entertain the idea they might be thinking about orbital weapons platforms. I noticed in a recent report on the BBC about the US practicing for potential future conflicts they mentioned threats from space. Time will tell I guess but if it was just non-combative research they were doing up there, how come the X-37 is operated by the US Air Force and not NASA?

I'll be interested to see what China has in the pipeline along this theme.

[phreakf4]

.... but if it was just non-combative research they were doing up there, how come the X-37 is operated by the US Air Force and not NASA?....

The US Air Force already operates several reconnaissance satellites, so that is hardly a valid question.

Other issues relating to the article are...

Could the US survive the uproar if it were found that they were placing weapons in orbit?

And the suggestion of "dropping special forces anywhere on the planet within a few minutes" is so ridiculous as to be laughable. Orbital mechanics aside, how long would it take to a) modify the vehicle to carry troops and b) what is the lead time for a launch, i.e. how long from identifying any need for such an operation to actually having a vehicle in a position to undertake the mission (unless one is planning on having a squad of special forces permanently in orbit.....)? Not to mention that it would require a much larger vehicle.

[Vigorous Dragon]

.... but if it was just non-combative research they were doing up there, how come the X-37 is operated by the US Air Force and not NASA?....

The US Air Force already operates several reconnaissance satellites, so that is hardly a valid question

The x-37 isn't a satellite though, and I didn't say reconnaissance I said non combative research, so that's hardly a valid response.

Other issues relating to the article are...

Could the US survive the uproar if it were found that they were placing weapons in orbit?

That's why they call them 'classified' missions. Plus I only said it was conceivable they could be thinking of doing that, I.e. undertaking tests and research into what could be possible, not actually going up there with giant lasers or kinetic strike weapons. And I can assure you, the US Government do a lot worse than that behind closed doors anyway.

And the suggestion of "dropping special forces anywhere on the planet within a few minutes" is so ridiculous as to be laughable. Orbital mechanics aside, how long would it take to a) modify the vehicle to carry troops and b) what is the lead time for a launch, i.e. how long from identifying any need for such an operation to actually having a vehicle in a position to undertake the mission (unless one is planning on having a squad of special forces permanently in orbit.....)? Not to mention that it would require a much larger vehicle.

If you read the article, it's says the suggestion of deploying troops was a far fetched theory, one which I do not subscribe to. I was merely pointing out the fact the x-37 had come back to earth and there's a lot of secrecy around what it's been doing in orbit.

[Tim Holden]

I am not sure of the status of the treaties regarding weapons in space. I know back in the Reagan "Star Wars" days that America was definately considering "defensive" space weapons platforms such as electromagnetic rail guns and anti ICBM missile platforms. I doubt however the Americans have any immediate plans to weaponise the X37. The Russians and Chinese would respond with their own systems which would not be a good thing.

It is simply a re-usable spy satellite. Normal satellites have a limited supply of propellant, re-tasking them uses up their propellant and effectively reduces their life span. Once a satellite is in orbit it cannot be upgraded, especially with the loss of the Space Shuttle capability. In the early shuttle days it would bring spy satellites back for service and upgrade then re-insert them in orbit. It was very expensive and it was cheaper to launch new satellites. The X37 can go into whatever orbit they want, look at any spot on the earths surface, can be refuleed and re-tasked as many times as they want and be upgraded with the latest optics and sensors on every mission. I would not be at all suprised if it could stream real time imagery to a commander in the field. Space is the ultimate high ground.

Tim

[IgnatiusJReilly]

I had read elsewhere that there was an X-37C planned which is expected to carry astronauts.
Shamelessly lifted from Wiki..
"In 2011, Boeing announced plans for a scaled-up variant of the X-37B, referring to it as the X-37C. The X-37C spacecraft would be between 165% and 180% of the size of the X-37B, allowing it to transport up to six astronauts inside a pressurized compartment housed in the cargo bay. Its proposed launch vehicle is the Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.[66] The X-37C could compete with Boeing's CST-100 commercial space capsule.[67]"

[aviodromefriend]

I am not sure of the status of the treaties regarding weapons in space.

There is a treaty that forbids all war oriented activities in space. But as always, it is up to the countries that can get into space if they keep to that treaties or not (the US being notorious disobeyants of all treaties they signed in the past, as soon as it is in their advantage).