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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing X-37 | 2/4 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37 | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T12:38:23.150238+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle === On 17 November 2006, the U.S. Air Force announced that it would develop its own variant of NASA's X-37A. The Air Force version was designated the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). The OTV program was built on earlier industry and government efforts by DARPA, NASA, and the Air Force under the leadership of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office in partnership with NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Boeing was the prime contractor for the OTV program. The X-37B was designed to remain in orbit for up to 270 days at a time. The Secretary of the Air Force stated that the OTV program would focus on "risk reduction, experimentation, and operational concept development for reusable space vehicle technologies, in support of long-term developmental space objectives". The X-37B was originally scheduled for launch in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle, but after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, it was transferred to a Delta II 7920. The X-37B was subsequently transferred to a shrouded configuration on the Atlas V rocket, due to concerns over the unshrouded spacecraft's aerodynamic properties during launch. Following their missions, X-37B spacecraft primarily land on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with Edwards Air Force Base as a secondary site. In 2010, manufacturing work began on the second X-37B, which conducted its maiden mission in March 2011. On 8 October 2014, NASA confirmed that X-37B vehicles would be housed at Kennedy Space Center in Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF) 1 and 2, hangars previously occupied by the Space Shuttle. Boeing had said the space planes would use OPF-1 in January 2014, and the Air Force had previously said it was considering consolidating X-37B operations, housed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, nearer to their launch site at Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA also stated that the program had completed tests to determine whether the X-37B, one-fourth the size of the Space Shuttle, could land on the former Shuttle runways. NASA furthermore stated that renovations of the two hangars would be completed by the end of 2014; the main doors of OPF-1 were marked with the message "Home of the X-37B" by this point.
==== Speculation regarding purpose ==== Most of the activities of the X-37B project are secret. The official Air Force statement is that the project is "an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, uncrewed space test platform for the U.S. Air Force". The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technology and operating experiments, which can be returned to Earth. The Air Force states that this includes testing avionics, flight systems, guidance and navigation, thermal protection, insulation, propulsion, and re-entry systems. In May 2010, Tom Burghardt speculated on Space Daily that the X-37B could be used as a spy satellite or to deliver weapons from space. The Pentagon subsequently denied claims that the X-37B's test missions supported the development of space-based weapons. In January 2012, allegations were made that the X-37B was being used to spy on China's Tiangong-1 space station module. Former U.S. Air Force orbital analyst Brian Weeden later rejected this claim, emphasizing that the different orbits of the two spacecraft precluded any practical surveillance flybys. In October 2014, The Guardian reported the claims of security experts that the X-37B was being used "to test reconnaissance and spy sensors, particularly how they hold up against radiation and other hazards of orbit". In November 2016, the International Business Times speculated that the U.S. government was testing a version of the EmDrive electromagnetic microwave thruster on the fourth flight of the X-37B. In 2009, an EmDrive technology transfer contract with Boeing was undertaken via a State Department TAA and a UK export license, approved by the UK Ministry of Defence. Boeing has since stated that it is no longer pursuing this area of research. The U.S. Air Force has stated that the X-37B is testing a Hall-effect thruster system for Aerojet Rocketdyne. In July 2019, former United States Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson explained that when an X-37B was in an elliptic orbit it could, at perigee, use the thin atmosphere to make an orbit change preventing some observers from discovering the new orbit for a while, permitting secret activities.
=== Processing ===
Processing for the X-37 is carried out inside Bays 1 and 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where the vehicle is loaded with its payload. The X-37 is then placed inside a fairing along with its stage adapter and transported to the launch site. Previous launch sites have included SLC-41 and Kennedy Space Center LC-39A. Landing is at one of three sites across the US: the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center, Vandenberg Space Force Base, or Edwards Air Force Base. To return to Kennedy Space Center, the X-37 is placed into a payload canister and loaded into a Boeing C-17 cargo plane. Once at Kennedy, the X-37 is unloaded and towed to the OPF, where it is prepared for its next flight. Technicians must wear protective suits due to toxic hypergolic gases.
== Design ==