JAKARTA – The US X-37B has carried out several missions. One of its longest missions was to fly in orbit for 780 days. The agenda of this plane has been a well-kept secret for more than 20 years.
Built by Boeing, the X-37, aka Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) started as a NASA project in 1999. In 2004 it was transferred to the US Air Force. Since then the craft has orbited planet Earth on a number of secret missions. With US military forces in space currently facing a greater threat, they are becoming more outspoken about their strategy and showing what they can do.
Mission number six of the X-37B spacecraft has broken a record 500 days in orbit. The spacecraft blasted off into space on an Atlas V-501 rocket in May 2020, but its configuration allowed it to ride a SpaceX Falcon rocket as well.
Its adaptability and re-entry power that allows it to glide hot on the runway not only give it the familiar look of the NASA-Shuttle spacecraft, but also allow it to take experiments to lower orbit and return them to Earth, as well as carry out rapid deployment and multipurpose missions. . The X-37B can dock and drop with service modules or satellites and carry payloads and aircraft into space.
The main mission of the X-37B is classified as secret. The media speculated that the spacecraft was a war-oriented military aircraft capable of spying and could even be armed. But the claim itself has been denied by the Pentagon.
As satellite traffic and tensions between China, the US and Russia escalate due to the satellite war, and the role of the US military in space increases. Unmanned spacecraft such as the X-37B are targeted for their potential to protect national interests. The US military has broken decades of silence on the X-37B in recent months.
The US Naval Research Laboratory, NRL, uses a spacecraft to convert solar power into radiofrequency microwave energy and then send it to the ground. This is also being worked on by the UK government through their national space strategy.
The X-37B also put FalconSAT-8 into orbit carrying 5 experiments in its payload. In addition, and for undisclosed reasons, the US military is also working to understand the effects of radiation on seeds to grow food in space.
The US Space Force’s Delta 9, which is running the operation, said their mission was to “prepare troops to protect and defend” and provide authorities with options to “deter and, where necessary, defeat orbital threats.”
– .
