A secretive space drone just broke its own orbit record, and almost no one knows what it’s doing

[Hamartia Antidote]

https://beta.washingtonpost.com/tec...t-no-one-knows-what-its-doing/?outputType=amp

The Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle on May 7, 2017. (U.S. Air F


The X-37B — the Air Force’s ultra-secretive, astronaut-free spacecraft that looks like a miniaturized space shuttle — just broke its own flight record of 719 days in continuous orbit.

What, exactly, the experimental spacecraft has been doing for almost two years straight has puzzled analysts who can only speculate about the Pentagon’s ambitionsover the low-orbit vehicle.

The Air Force has said, “The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft technologies for America’s future in space and operating experiments which can be returned to, and examined, on Earth.”

Pretty clear, right?

In September 2017, defense officials said the X-37B’s mission — its fifth since 2010 — would demonstrate the potential for getting to space quickly and “on-orbit testing of emerging space technologies” while testing experimental electronics in zero gravity.


Its playground is an important one, and may provide clues to the spacecraft’s true mission and what payload it may carry. Low Earth orbit is where the International Space Station circumnavigates the planet, and where many military and commercial satellites are situated.

As future conflict increasingly has a dimension in space, war outside our atmosphere could be focused on killing vital surveillance and navigational satellites to give terrestrial armies an advantage.

Scaling down big, unwieldy satellites to smaller, equally capable satellites to get lower in orbit makes a lot of sense when you need higher resolution images of, say, missile launch sites in North Korea or Chinese operations in contested areas of the South China Sea.


Lower orbit requires more maneuverability, which means more fuel, Air and Space magazine reported. And the X-37B is using Hall thrusters that use an electric field to accelerate xenon propellant, which means more intricate movements can be done without relying on a lot of fuel on board.

That application would be prized on reconnaissance satellites that need to stay low for years, the magazine reported.

 

[lcloo]

A long endurance xenon powered ion thruster spy space craft, replacing U-2 and SR-71, more versatile than normal spy satellite. Re-usable and upgradable with more advance spy equipment after each landing.

 

[8888888888888]

China mostly just concentrate on developing a missile evading anti missile defence system instead of this.

 

[Menthol]

I think this is a good idea.

It's like a submarine but in the space.

Imagine if this plane loaded with nuclear warheads, flying in the orbit for years and then sliding to the earth at hypersonic speed.

It can reach the entire world in less than an hour.

And no one knows.

This super weapon should be built in thousands.

 

[antonius123]

China mostly just concentrate on developing a missile evading anti missile defence system instead of this.

https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/soc...plane-race-china-tests-hypersonic-drone-model

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

I think this is a good idea.

It's like a submarine but in the space.

Imagine if this plane loaded with nuclear warheads, flying in the orbit for years and then sliding to the earth at hypersonic speed.

It can reach the entire world in less than an hour.

And no one knows.

This super weapon should be built in thousands.

It’s supposedly testing numerous technologies. For instance testing efficient evasive maneuver equipment for military satellites to dodge future attack threats. Skywatchers have noticed it moving around. It’s possible future military satellites will orbit in random zig zag patterns so they can’t be easily hit.

 

[Vassnti]

Its where they hide the aliens when they think people are going to storm area 51