{"id":45646,"date":"2023-12-12T20:18:28","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:18:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/the-us-militarys-spaceplane-is-about-to-fly-again-it-needs-a-bigger-rocket\/"},"modified":"2023-12-12T20:18:28","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T12:18:28","slug":"the-us-militarys-spaceplane-is-about-to-fly-again-it-needs-a-bigger-rocket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/the-us-militarys-spaceplane-is-about-to-fly-again-it-needs-a-bigger-rocket\/","title":{"rendered":"The US military\u2019s spaceplane is about to fly again\u2014it needs a bigger rocket"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida\u2014A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is poised for launch as soon as Wednesday night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the US military\u2019s mysterious X-37B spaceplane is fastened atop the heavy-lifter for a ride into orbit.<\/p>\n

Although the Space Force is keeping details about the military spaceplane\u2019s flight under wraps, we know it\u2019s heading into an unusual orbit, probably significantly higher than the X-37B\u2019s previous sojourns that stayed within a few hundred miles of Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s launch team called off a launch attempt Monday night \u201cdue to a ground side issue\u201d and reset for another launch opportunity as soon as Tuesday, then pushed the liftoff back another 24 hours until Wednesday night at 8:13 pm EST (01:13 UTC). When it lifts off, the Falcon Heavy will light 27 kerosene-fueled engines to power the rocket off its launch pad overlooking the Atlantic coastline.<\/p>\n

You can watch the launch using SpaceX\u2019s live video feed on X, the social media platform, or if you prefer YouTube, third-party streams are available from Spaceflight Now and NASASpaceflight.<\/p>\n

The exact altitude the X-37B will be flying through is unclear, but hobbyists and amateur sleuths who use open source information to reconstruct trajectories of top-secret military spacecraft suggest the Falcon Heavy will haul the winged vehicle into an orbit that could stretch tens of thousands of miles above the planet.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, the Falcon Heavy will apparently take a flight path toward the northeast from Florida\u2019s Space Coast, then ultimately release the X-37B on a trajectory that will take it over Earth\u2019s polar regions. This is a significant departure from the flight profile for the military spaceplane\u2019s six previous missions, which all flew to space on smaller rockets than the Falcon Heavy.<\/p>\n

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In a statement, the Space Force said this flight of the X-37B is focused on \u201ca wide range of test and experimentation objectives.\u201d Flying in \u201cnew orbital regimes\u201d is among the test objectives, military officials said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to me like it might be a much higher orbit that it\u2019s going to,\u201d said Brian Weeden, director of program planning for the Secure World Foundation, which promotes sustainable and peaceful uses of outer space. \u201cOtherwise, I don\u2019t know why they would use a Falcon Heavy, which is a pretty big thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Covering more ground<\/h2>\n

The X-37B spaceplane has attracted a lot of attention and speculation since its first mission in 2010. Across multiple administrations, Pentagon officials have consistently walked a narrow line between acknowledging the existence of the spaceplane and divulging limited information about its general purpose, while treating some details with the utmost secrecy. The military does not talk about where in space it flies. With a few exceptions, defense officials haven\u2019t publicly discussed specifics of what the X-37B carries into orbit.<\/p>\n

The military has two Boeing-built X-37B spaceplanes, or Orbital Test Vehicles, in its inventory. They are reusable and designed to launch inside the payload fairing of a conventional rocket, spend multiple years in space with the use of solar power, and then return to Earth for a landing on a three-mile-long runway, either at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California or at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

It resembles a miniature version of NASA\u2019s retired space shuttle orbiter, with wings, deployable landing gear, and black thermal protection tiles to shield its belly from the scorching heat of reentry. It measures 29 feet (about 9 meters) long, roughly a quarter of the length of NASA\u2019s space shuttle, and it doesn\u2019t carry astronauts. The X-37B has a cargo bay inside the fuselage for payloads, with doors that open after launch and close before landing.<\/p>\n

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The Space Force made a surprise announcement on November 8 that the next flight of the X-37B, sometimes called OTV-7, would launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. All six of the spaceplane\u2019s past flights launched on smaller rockets, either United Launch Alliance\u2019s Atlas V or SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9.<\/p>\n

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The Boeing-built X-37B spaceplane before encapsulation inside the Falcon Heavy rocket.<\/p>\n

Credit:
\n US Space Force<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

The Falcon Heavy can lift about three times the payload mass as a Falcon 9, but it has the same payload volume. The X-37B\u2019s wingspan and length are fixed and known. This mission will include a service module mounted to the rear of the spaceplane to carry additional hardware, but the last X-37B had the same add-on and still didn\u2019t need a Falcon Heavy.<\/p>\n

Knowing this, and armed with the military\u2019s admission this mission would explore new orbital regimes, outside observers surmised the military could be sending the X-37B to a higher altitude on the next flight.<\/p>\n

The evidence points to this being the case. Airspace and maritime hazard notices released to warn pilots and sailors to steer clear of the rocket\u2019s flight path suggest the Falcon Heavy will fly northeast from Kennedy Space Center rather than take the Falcon Heavy\u2019s typical flight path to the east. The rocket\u2019s two side boosters will return to land at Cape Canaveral, where SpaceX will refurbish them for another launch next year with NASA\u2019s Europa Clipper science mission to study one of Jupiter\u2019s icy moons.<\/p>\n

The Falcon Heavy\u2019s center core will fall into the Atlantic Ocean east of North Carolina, while the upper stage will continue propelling the military\u2019s spaceplane into orbit. Then, the mission will enter a military-imposed news blackout. We don\u2019t expect any more official updates on the progress of the launch or information about the X-37B\u2019s progress until it eventually comes back to Earth.<\/p>\n

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Another maritime navigation warning covering an area of the Pacific Ocean south of Alaska also appears to be linked to this launch and likely delineates the area where the Falcon Heavy\u2019s upper stage will reenter the atmosphere after deploying the X-37B. Most of the spent upper stage will burn up in the atmosphere. If this is related to the military spaceplane launch, the warning suggests the Falcon Heavy will ultimately release its payload into an elliptical, or egg-shaped, orbit ranging tens of thousands of miles above Earth, according to Marco Langbroek, an expert in satellite tracking.<\/p>\n