Air Force X-37B Spacecraft Makes Test Flight

The US Air Force has successfully launched its X-37B unmanned spacecraft. The vehicle was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, at 1952 EDT on Thursday.

The X-37B, similar in appearance to the space shuttle, has been built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The spacecraft is 29 feet long and according to information released by the Air Force its onboard batteries and solar panels can keep it operating for up to nine months. It is similar in concept to the shuttle, being equipped with a cargo area and in using a re-entry procedure that allows it to glide to a runway. Being unmanned, the X-37B will autonomously return to earth and land itself using an onboard autopilot. Its return destination is Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

X-37B mission

The X-37B has generated a great deal of interest since information about its development, and indeed its mission, has largely been kept secret.

Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary for the Air Force for space programs, admitted in a conference call with the media that the X-37B's mission is classified. Payton refused to elaborate on the ultimate purpose of the test flight, though he did say the primary reason for this was to see if the concept of a reusable, unmanned system that can be turned around easily and cheaply is viable to the Air Force. The goal is to have an X-37B ready to fly again in 15 days.

The Air Force describes the X-37B as follows: "A flexible space test platform to conduct various experiments and allow satellite sensors, subsystems, components and associated technology to be efficiently transported to and from the space environment. This service directly supports the Defense Department's technology risk-reduction efforts for new satellite systems. By providing an ‘on-orbit laboratory' test environment, it will prove new technology and components before those technologies are committed to operational satellite programs."

X-37B program history

The X-37B program history is a long one. The idea of a military, rather than NASA, operated space vehicle has been around for decades.

The X-37 itself was first developed for NASA during the 1990s by Boeing's Phantom Works division, and was known as the X-37A. In 2004 the program became classified on being transferred to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. In 2006 it was announced that the X-37 would be developed as an Orbital Test Vehicle with the new designation X-37B.