Boeing-built Orbital Test Vehicle X-37B Begins 1st Flight

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Boeing-built Orbital Test Vehicle X-37B Begins 1st Flight
UNITED STATES - 22 APRIL 2010

CAPE CANAVERAL U.S. AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., April 22, 2010 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced the successful launch of the Boeing-built Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), also known as the X-37B, for the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. The OTV was launched on an Atlas V rocket into a low Earth orbit today at 7:52 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 41.

"The X-37B has the potential to bring to space the flexibility that unmanned systems provide warfighters and combatant commanders today," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "With the ability to be launched into space and then land on its own, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is an example of the kind of innovation that Boeing has been doing for decades to advance aviation, space systems, and now unmanned systems. Close teamwork between the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office, the United Launch Alliance Atlas team, and the 45th Space Wing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station made this launch a success."

The vehicle will be used to demonstrate a reliable, reusable unmanned space test platform for the Air Force. Program objectives include space experimentation, risk reduction, and concept-of-operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies.

"The Orbital Test Vehicle combines the best of aircraft and spacecraft to enable flexible and responsive missions," said Paul Rusnock, Boeing vice president of Experimental Systems and program director for the X-37B. "This first flight will demonstrate the readiness of the X-37B to begin serving the Air Force as it continues to investigate ways to make space access more routine, affordable and responsive."

Boeing's commitment to this space-based unmanned vehicle spans a decade and includes support to the Air Force Research Lab's X-40 program, NASA's X-37 program, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's X-37 approach, landing and test vehicle (ALTV) program.

Boeing program management, engineering, test and mission support functions for the OTV program are conducted at Boeing sites in Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, and El Segundo, Calif.

Source: The Boeing Company


Photo: The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle in the encapsulation cell at the Astrotech facility April 2010, in Titusville, Fla. Air Force officials are scheduled to launch the X-37B April 21, 2010, at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. The X-37B is the U.S.'s newest and most advanced unmanned re-entry spacecraft.

 

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U.S. military launches X-37B reusable spaceship
UNITED STATES - 22 APRIL 2010

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida - An unmanned Atlas rocket carrying a miniature space shuttle blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Thursday on a technology test flight that could last as long as nine months.

The 20-story rocket, built by United Launch Alliance — a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing — lifted off at 7:52 p.m. ET and soared over the Atlantic Ocean, heading toward orbit.

The Air Force Space Command, based in Colorado Springs, which will oversee the mission of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, has classified details of the prototype shuttle's payload, experiments and planned orbital operations.

The point of the project, started by NASA in the late 1990s and later adopted by the military, is to test a next-generation space shuttle — the world's only reusable operational spaceship —to try to trim time between flights and cut costs, said Gary Payton, Air Force deputy undersecretary for space programs.

"Probably the most important demonstration is on the ground, see what it really takes to turn this bird around and get it ready to go fly again," Payton told reporters.

NASA's space shuttles take several thousand engineers and technicians three to four months to prepare for flight.

But the X-37B is not meant to carry people. The military is looking at the vehicle as a way to test new equipment, sensors and materials in space, with an eye to incorporating them into satellites and other operational systems.

Officials also would like to cut the turnaround time between space flights from months to days.

The X-37B looks like a space shuttle orbiter, with a similar shape and payload bay for cargo and experiments. But it measures 29 feet, 3 inches in length and has a 15-foot wing span, compared to the 122-foot orbiters with wing spans of 78 feet.

Unlike NASA's space shuttles which can stay in orbit about two weeks, X-37B is designed to spend as long as nine months in space, then land autonomously on a runway.

"In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back for sure," said Payton. "It depends on the progress that we make with the on-orbit experiments, the on-orbit demonstrations."

The vehicle is expected to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with nearby Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert available as a backup.

The X-37B was built by Boeing's advanced research lab, Phantom Works. If the flight is successful, the Air Force plans to launch a second vehicle in 2011.

Source: Reuters



The X-37B sits on top of an Atlas V rocket lifting off from Space Launch pad Complex-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, 22 April 2010. The OTV, also known as the X-37B, supports space experimentation, risk reduction, and concept of operations development for long duration and reusable space vehicle technologies.

 

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Pratt & Whitney Successfully Powers Launch of US Military's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle
UNITED STATES - 22 APRIL 2010

(West Palm Beach, Fla., April 22, 2010) -- Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne today helped boost into orbit the U.S. military's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. The mission was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. The Atlas V is powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 booster engine and a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL10 upper-stage engine. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a unit of United Technologies Corp. ( UTX). RD AMROSS LLC is a joint venture of Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and NPO Energomash.

"Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is pleased to provide power for the U.S. Air Force's launch of its X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. This launch continues our proud history of supporting the U.S. military," said Jim Maus, director, expendable propulsion programs, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. "This third launch of the RL10 in 2010 is the 408th production model RL10 to fly, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with United Launch Alliance in this coming decade."

"RD AMROSS and its partners -- NPO Energomash and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne -- congratulate the U.S. Air Force on this successful launch," said Len Dest, president and CEO of RD AMROSS.

The Atlas V Centaur upper stage is powered by a single RL10A-4-2 engine that delivers 22,300 pounds of thrust. For over 46 years, the RL10 has been one of the United States' most reliable upper-stage engines. The Atlas V Common Core booster is powered by the RD-180 engine delivering nearly 1 million pounds of thrust. The RD-180 is the only liquid oxygen-kerosene fueled engine with an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle flying in the United States today.


Source: Pratt & Whitney