By David Axe
But what those payloads and experiments might be, the Air Force isn’t saying. It’s possible that the X-37 represents a powerful military capability. It's equally possible that the new spacecraft's missions are strictly peaceful in nature. Either way, the ambiguity itself could pose a strategic risk.
‘The smoke probably exceeds the fire,’ says Eric Sterner, an analyst with the Washington, D.C.-based Marshall Institute adding that the X-37 is mostly likely intended to test ways of placing satellites into orbit more quickly and cheaply than is possible with the current generation of rockets and the Space Shuttle.
This goal of an ‘operationally responsive space’ capability is mostly a reaction to the rising cost of satellites and rockets, and to the planned retirement of the Space Shuttle this year or next. In other words—strictly peaceful. But it could also represent a countermeasure to China's new anti-satellite system. For every US satellite Beijing might destroy in a future conflict, Washington could quickly loft a replacement into orbit.
What’s more, the X-37 could, in theory, be ‘weaponized.’ ‘You open the payload bay, you can have in it anything you want, like a hard-point on an aircraft,’ Sterner says. ‘You can put sensors in there, satellites in there. You could stick munitions in there, provided they exist.’
The Pentagon has studied techniques for dropping non-nuclear bombs from space, but has never admitted to formally developing such orbital weaponry. The United States is a founding member of the UN’s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and is a signatory to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty banning orbital nuclear weapons.
With current technology, the X-37 ‘has near zero feasibility as an orbital weapons system for attacking targets on the ground,’ Brian Weeden, technical advisor for the Secure World Foundation, wrote in a briefing on the subject. The craft's payload bay is too small for carrying a useful space-launched weapon, and the vehicle moves too slowly to perform bombing runs while re-entering the atmosphere, Weeden claimed.
But the X-37 could be used to sneak up on and probe—or even capture or destroy—satellites belonging to other countries. This ‘inspection’ capability, more than any potential weaponization, worries nations such as India, China and Russia. Beijing, in particular, has urged the US not to field vehicles capable of satellite inspection. With the X-37, the US defied those requests.
‘The US previously said that it would slow down the pace of developing the space plane project,’ says Zhai Dequan, an official from China's Arms Control and Disarmament Association. ‘But now with the [X-37] launch, it shows the US has never really slowed down.’
Thirty years ago, the debut of the Space Shuttle stoked similar concerns in the Soviet Union. ‘When the Shuttle went up, the Soviets thought it could be a platform to go up and capture Soviet satellites,’ says Weeden. ‘That was a serious thing. They [the Soviets] developed their own version of the Shuttle, the “Buran,” to go and do that.’
The Buran shuttle programme ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. And as it turns out, the Space Shuttle—a so-called dual-use vehicle with military and civilian applications—has spent most of its times on apparently peaceful missions.
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Malik Endsley
good job on the info
Guy Fawkes
So while the US wastes trillions on wars and useless weapons, China is busy building the real weapon of mass destruction, a sound economy. No mention of the cost of this, odds are its huge. Also you can bet many if not most of the key components were made in China.
Steve
If this thing is as maneuverable as suggested, maybe ,just maybe, we are actually tagging their satellites with a device to immobilize it on command, maybe just temporary,make it look like a glitch? Not an actual weapon per-se? So this thing is in place,just in case we need to blind them just flip a switch.
Garry Perrin
…Washington could quickly loft a replacement into orbit.
Totally unrealistic…
John
What makes this craft anymore of a threat than say the shuttle program. Every country that has the capability of spying is. This notion of America wanting the world be real about it would you want it. All countries are trying their own things plus whatever they can steal from other countries. In today’s world all countries should be fighting the terrorist of the world. I see that even the great defender of terrorist organization’s (Iran) can’t trust all they sleep with. They are in denial and still blame the west & Israel. WAKE UP IRAN WHAT COMES AROUND GOES AROUND maybe some infidels may fly an airplane into a building near you stay tuned. China to care about what they think of anything the U.S. is doing FREE YOUR PEOPLE. The only reason they ran that guy over with a tank was to save on amunition.
destiny
I think this is cool…yes its an unmanned spaceship….what does it do?…we are at war with china. Not a immature one like guns or missals. An economic one… They have stole a lot of data and secretes from the USA and Russia. we need to know how to do things. This requires secrete projects.. scientific in nature… a must for the future… I rather not be out of date when we need to leave earth because of over population in the next 500years…where is china new real estates? MARs or the moon..
rockne1865
The only way the US should share their Military Space Tech is if the rest of the world lays down its Arms and embraces human rights! this includes Terrorists. At least the US is not blowing up Satellites in orbit filling the orbit with junk endangering other Satellites! The US Broke 1 up as it was falling so it would burn up!