Spacex to Launch X-37B Secret Space Plane for First Time

(BREAKING DEFENSE) GEOINT: In news sure to rock the launch industry, the mighty United Launch Alliance today failed to be named as the company launching the X-37B space plane. Instead, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will carry it for the first time, marking what is believed to be the company’s heaviest national security launch to date.

The Air Force announced this evening — after the markets closed — that SpaceX would carry Boeing’s X-37B spaceplane into orbit “later this year.” What’s really interesting about that is that it takes about two years to build a Falcon 9 launcher so the contract was issued some time ago.

An industry source noted that SpaceX is “kicking major butt” with this win, but raised questions about how much risk has increased with the move to SpaceX.

“While SpaceX, and potentially other firms, are bringing competition and lowering the cost of access to space, isn’t our national policy of assured access to Space about more than cost? The Atlas V’s reliability is second-to-none,” the source noted. “SpaceX is kicking major butt but Falcon’s reliability is nowhere near Atlas. The AF decision on X-37 represents a major shift in risk tolerance.”

Pull it apart and this the comment refers to ULA’s remarkable string of 61 succesful Atlas launches, a record SpaceX cannot come close to. As Breaking D readers know, SpaceX had a major failure in September last year when a Falcon 9 undergoing engine testing exploded on the pad at  Cape Canaveral.

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The U.S. Govt’s Top-Secret Space Plane Just Returned From Orbit. What Was It Doing?

Image source: USAF

America’s most mysterious spacecraft, the X-37B Space Plane, just completed a two-year secret mission that might have involved orbital weapons tests – although details remain sketchy.

The U.S. Air Force X-37B landed at Cape Canaveral on May 6 after spending a record 718 days in space.

Nobody knows what was in the X-37B or what it was doing in orbit, Space.com reported. The mission was classified, so there has been some speculation it was testing a weapon, such as a satellite disabler, or testing new spy satellite technology.

The Air Force’s 45^th Space Wing, which operates the X-37B, denies those rumors but admitted the mission did involve new technologies.

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“Technologies being tested in the program include advanced guidance, navigation and control; thermal-protection systems; avionics; high-temperature structures and seals; conformal, reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems; and autonomous orbital flight, re-entry and landing,” an Air Force spokeswoman, Captain AnnMarie Annicelli, told Space.com.

“Also, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), and the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office (AFRCO) are investigating an experimental propulsion system,” Annicelli added.

The 45^th Space Wing is the Air Force unit that tests missile technology for the Pentagon.

Some experts speculate the X-37B was testing new sensor technology for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) – the agency that operates America’s spy satellites. Others say the mission is a cover for testing weapons in space.

The X-37B is a miniature robotic version of the Space Shuttle and was built by Boeing. Like the shuttle, the X-37B is launched into orbit by a rocket but it lands on a runway like a plane.

The Air Force has at least two X-37Bs that are used for research in orbit. It was first tested in April 2010 and has been on at least three missions since.

What do you think the X-37B is doing? Share your thoughts in the section below: