The United States is set to launch one of its secretive space planes later this month, as the Pentagon races to maintain its space dominance while its adversaries rapidly close the gap.
The spacecraft, known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is a dynamic space platform dedicated to technology experimentation, with every mission providing continuous opportunities for learning, a Department of the Air Force spokesperson told Newsweek.
By testing new technologies in orbit, the X-37B helps the U.S. better protect its interests in space and be prepared to fight and win if adversaries Russia and China choose to engage in conflict, Hudson Institute senior fellow Rebeccah L. Heinrichs said.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian and Chinese foreign ministries for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Russia and China, quasi-allies under their “no limits” strategic partnership, have developed technologies that could threaten the U.S.’s interests in space, including satellites designed to disrupt or damage orbital assets and, reportedly, a space-based nuclear weapon.
In its defense space strategy, the U.S. describes both adversaries as the “greatest strategic threats” as they develop, test, and deploy counterspace capabilities. In response to these challenges, the Space Force was established during the first Trump administration in 2019.
What Is X-37B?
The X-37B, which resembles the retired space shuttles, is an experimental test program designed to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space platform.
Boeing has built two spacecraft, each measuring 29 feet long and weighing 11,000 pounds. Since its first launch in 2010, the fleet has traveled more than 1.3 billion miles and spent over 4,000 days in orbit across seven missions, with the longest mission lasting 908 days.
The Pentagon has rarely disclosed details of each X-37B mission, particularly the payloads, as it has been intentional about keeping those concealed since its inception, Heinrichs said.
Previous X-37B Missions
Mission 7
- End Date: March 7, 2025
- On-orbit: 434 days
- Objectives: Operating in new orbital regimes, experimenting with space domain awareness technologies, and investigating radiation effects on NASA materials
Mission 6
- End Date: November 12, 2022
- On-orbit: 908 days
- Objectives: Using a service module to host experiments, deploying a small satellite, studying the results of radiation and other space effects on a materials sample plate and seeds used to grow food, and transforming solar power into radio frequency microwave energy
Mission 5
- End Date: October 27, 2019
- On-orbit: 780 days
- Objectives: Hosting experiments and deploying small satellites
Mission 4
- End Date: May 7, 2017
- On-orbit: 718 days
- Objectives: Gathering data to support scientific and space communities
Mission 3
- End Date: October 17, 2014
- On-orbit: 674 days
- Objectives: Evaluating and understanding the vehicle’s performance characteristics
Mission 2
- End Date: June 16, 2012
- On-orbit: 469 days
- Objectives: Testing the vehicle’s design and additional capabilities
Mission 1
- End Date: December 3, 2010
- On-orbit: 224 days
- Objectives: Inaugural mission, demonstrating that unmanned space vehicles can be sent into orbit and safely recovered
The Upcoming Mission
In partnership with the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the eighth X-37B mission, or OTV-8, is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 21, the Space Force announced. The spacecraft will be carried aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The mission will include operational demonstrations and experiments comprising what the Space Force described in a press release as “next-generation technologies,” including laser communications and the highest-performing quantum inertial sensor ever tested in space.
Laser communication technologies help enhance the resilience of America’s civil and national security space architectures by providing “faster, more reliable, and more resilient” space data transmission capabilities, the Department of the Air Force spokesperson said.
The quantum inertial sensor will enable accurate unaided navigation in space by detecting the rotation and acceleration of atoms without relying on satellites like traditional GPS.
The Space Force said this technology is useful for navigation in “GPS-denied environments” and, consequently, will enhance the navigational resilience of U.S. spacecraft in the face of current and emerging threats, as well as advance long-distance space travel and exploration.
What People Are Saying
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of the Air Force told Newsweek: “The array of lessons learned through each iterative mission deepen resilience and adaptability of X-37B while enabling the maturation of tools and technology promoting United States resilience in space.”
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Newsweek: “Russia and China’s partnership to advance key technologies goes all the way to space. They have weaponized the space domain, in spite of the United States encouraging nations to use space for peaceful purposes.”
What Happens Next
It will be fascinating to see if the U.S. will reveal aspects of the X-37B program to signal to Russia and China what it is capable of with the intent of bolstering deterrence and if any of the technologies the program has helped develop may be leveraged for the Golden Dome missile defense shield, which would mark the first time the U.S. deploys weapons in space, according to Heinrichs.
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