The Weaponization of Space: US to Launch Secret 'Space Warplane'

[LightCaster]

The Weaponization of Space: US to Launch Secret 'Space Warplane'

Global Research, April 20, 2010
Press TV - 2010-04-19

The United States Air Force has announced that it will launch a secret space plane that has sparked speculation about the militarization of space.

The Pentagon has set April 21 as the date for the launch of the robotic space plane known as the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), which is a reusable unmanned plane capable of long outer space missions at low orbits.

Since the nature of the project is shrouded in mystery, defense analysts allege that the US military is building the first generation of US 'space Predator drones' that will build up the United States' space armada, the Christian Science Monitor wrote in a recent article.

Military experts argue that the US Department of Defense would not have saved NASA's costly X-37B project, which had been scrapped, if it did not have a military application.

They say the US wants to maintain a leading role in space via the development of the new 'space weapon' at a time when other countries like China are expanding their space programs.

However, US military officials maintain that the X-37B will only be used for transporting payloads and facilitating space experiments.

The OTV is capable of supporting a range of tests, the Air Force spokesperson for the project said earlier at the 26th National Space Symposium.

"The first mission will emphasize proving technologies necessary for long duration reusable space vehicles with autonomous reentry and landing capabilities," Angie Blair added.

She went on to say that the "specific details of the OTV capabilities, limitations and vulnerabilities" remain classified.

The X-37B can stay at an orbit between 200 and 800 kilometers for around 270 days before landing automatically at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, reports say.

The location of the mission control center for the Boeing-made space vehicle is also a classified secret, but Blair says that Air Force Space Command's 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron (AFSPC) will run the operation.

Military space specialist Professor Roger Handberg, who is the chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, told Space.com that the X-37B project may signify continued U.S. Air Force interest in a rapid response vehicle along the lines of the long-proposed space maneuver vehicle.

He added that the project could be viewed "as the logical extension of the push into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) where vehicles used for observation have moved into weapon carriers and various other missions, many classified."

"From the perspective of international observers, especially in space-aspiring states such as China, the X-37B program just reinforces their view that the U.S. is pushing to gain first mover advantage in rapid response, including possible weaponization of space using this vehicle or a derivative," Handberg noted.

Political analysts say that the X-37B project could be interpreted as a violation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 if the space plane is used for military purposes.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, officially known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, states that the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind; states shall not place nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction in orbit or on celestial bodies or station them in outer space in any other manner; the Moon and other celestial bodies shall be used exclusively for peaceful purposes; astronauts shall be regarded as the envoys of mankind; states shall be liable for damage caused by their space objects; and states shall avoid harmful contamination of space and celestial bodies.

Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty states: "A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment."

In addition, a proposal has been put forward for a Space Preservation Treaty that would ban all space weapons, but no country has signed the treaty so far.

[reddog801]

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/22/air-forces-x-b-space-plane-takes-mystery-mission/?test=faces


ARTICLECOMMENTS (20)Updated April 22, 2010
Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Takes Off For Mystery Mission
By Tariq Malik  - Space.com

The United States Air Force's novel robotic X-37B space plane is tucked inside the bulbous nose cone of an unmanned rocket that blasted off Thursday from Florida on a mission shrouded in secrecy.

   
NASA

April 22, 2010: U.S. Air Force's novel robotic X-37B space plane launches atop an Atlas 5 rocket from a seaside pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The United States Air Force's secretive X-37B robotic space plane blasted off from Florida late Thursday on a mystery mission shrouded in secrecy for the U.S. military.

The unmanned military Orbital Test Vehicle 1 (OTV-1) – also known as the X-37B – lifted off at 7:52 p.m. EDT (2352 GMT) atop an Atlas 5 rocket on a mission that is expected to take months testing new spacecraft technologies.

The X-37B is a reusable robotic space plane built by Boeing Phantom Works. Its mission is being carried out under the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office with participation by NASA.

Key objectives of the space plane's first flight include demonstration and validation of guidance, navigation and control systems – including a "do-it-itself" autonomous re-entry and landing at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base with neighboring Edwards Air Force Base as a backup.

The X-37B is the first vehicle since NASA's space shuttles with the ability to return experiments to Earth for further inspection and analysis, Air Force officials said. [X-37B spacecraft photos.]



The U.S. Air Force's X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is shown inside its payload fairing during encapsulation at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Fla., ahead of a planned April 2010 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
 
The U.S. Air Force is on the verge of launching the new robotic X-37B space plane -- on a space mission that's still cloaked in secrecy.

"This is a new way for the Air Force to conduct on-orbit experiments," explained Gary Payton, Air Force deputy under secretary for space programs, during a Tuesday press teleconference.

The designed maximum on-orbit duration for the X-37B is 270 days, Payton said. "In all honesty, we don't know when it's coming back for sure. It depends on the progress that we make with the on-orbit demonstrations," he added.

Thursday's launch capped a long road to orbit for the X-37B spacecraft. NASA initially began the project in 1999 and later transferred it to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) in 2004 due to a lack of funding. The Air Force stepped in 2006 to take over the project.

Tight-lipped affair

Circling the Earth, the X-37B space plane has a full agenda of shaking out new technologies, including advanced guidance, navigation and control. Once the vehicle's payload bay doors open to space, power is provided by a deployable array of gallium arsenide solar cells coupled with lithium-ion batteries.

But after that action item is checked off, what else the X-37B will do becomes a tight-lipped affair.

"Actual on-orbit activities we do classify...for the experimental payloads that are on-orbit with the X-37," Payton said. There's enough payload room, he added as example, to house a couple of small satellites in the range of a few hundred kilograms each.

Given the X-37B's secretive duties, some analysts contend that the mission is provocative, perhaps fanning the flames for war in space.

"Truthfully, I don't know how this could be called 'weaponization' of space," Payton said. "Fundamentally, it's an updated version of the space shuttle kind of activities in space," he added, a new vehicle that could potentially help the Air Force do its space missions better.

Perhaps a key show and tell feature of the X-37B is its self-guided entry and landing in California. In the event the vehicle strays off course as it swoops down over the Pacific Ocean, the space plane is outfitted with a destruct mechanism.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 1 was built by Boeing in Seal Beach, Calif. It is about 29 feet (9 meters) long and has a wingspan of just over 14 feet (4 meters) across. It stands just over 9 1/2 feet (3 meters) tall and weighs nearly 11,000 pounds (about 5,000 kg).

This SPACE.com X-37B graphic illustrates some details of the space plane and its relative size.

The Air Force has already ordered a second X-37B, presumably the Orbital Test Vehicle 2, which is slated to launch in 2011. But that mission, and any new flights of this first vehicle, hinge on the performance during orbital and landing maneuvers, Air Force officials have said.

Tale of the V-tail

The X-37B carries two short vertical stabilizers in the back rather than one vertical as seen on the shuttle orbiter.

There were several reasons for the V-tail 'ruddervators'...a high-tech wordsmithing of rudder and elevator, explained Angie Blair, an Air Force spokeswoman for the project. For one, the short V-tails provide better packaging within the 5 meter in diameter Atlas 5 fairing than a single, taller vertical stabilizer, she said.

Secondly, the more forward wing location of the X-37B enables the V-tails to be very effective in the high angle of attack, hypersonic portion of the entry trajectory. That reduces the amount of reaction control system propellant needed for trim and control of the craft, Blair said.

As the craft draws a bead on its landing locale, a speed brake will be employed.

"A split ruddervators/speed brake like the space shuttle is not feasible in a small vehicle like the OTV," Blair noted. Aerodynamic testing and other studies, she said, led to the vehicle's upper center line speed brake and V-tail ruddervators as the best performing system solutions for the X-37B.

Readiness for re-flight

En route to the runway, new thermal protection systems will be evaluated. So too will be avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, as well as lightweight electromechanical flight systems.

Even after touching down, the X-37B is to yield insight into fast turnaround, operations and maintenance. The craft does carry some vehicle health monitoring subsystems to speed its readiness for re-flight, Payton told SPACE.com.

"If these technologies on the vehicle prove to be as good as we currently estimate, it will make our access to space more responsive, perhaps cheaper, and push us in the vector of being able to react to warfighter needs more quickly," Payton concluded.

[TRY]

 

Will new space warplane lead to militarization of space?

http://www.greenchange.org/article.php?id=5763
...
"Space has been militarized since before NASA was even created," said Joan Johnson-Freese, a space policy analyst at the Naval War College in Newport, RI. Yet she sees weaponization as a different issue from militarization because "so much space technology is dual use" in terms of having both civilian and military purposes, as well as offensive or defensive use.

The U.S. military could even be using the cloak of mystery to deliberately bamboozle and confuse rival militaries, according to John Pike, a military and security analyst who runs GlobalSecurity.org. He suggested that the X-37B and HTV-2 projects could represent the tip of a space weapons program hidden within the Pentagon's secret "black budget," or they might be nothing more than smoke and mirrors.

"The whole issue is further complicated because beyond technologies like lasers, Rods from God, explosives, etc.... virtually any object traveling in space can be a weapon if it can be maneuvered to run into another object," Johnson-Freese told SPACE.com.

Of course, the U.S. military could theoretically make good use of either the X-47B or HTV-2. An operational space plane could launch quickly as a replacement for recon satellites disabled in the opening salvoes of a conflict, and could "play hide and seek" to avoid being shot down easily. Similarly, a hypersonic aircraft or weapon might allow the U.S. to eliminate threats early on without warning.

The double-edged nature of space technologies has also complicated international efforts to ban entire classes of technologies which might serve as space weapons. Instead, there has been interest in "more modest proposals that focus on behavior, rather than what you are allowed to build or test," said Karl Mueller, a political scientist at the RAND Corporation.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/space-war-weapons-heats-up-100505.html
...
In U.S. military tracking parlance, when the space plane reached orbit it became identified as Catalog Number 36514, 2010-015A, OTV-1 (USA 212). [Video: X-37B space plane spotted.]

A second X-37B is now being fabricated for a test mission scheduled for 2011.

X-37B is being operated under the direction of Air Force Space Command's 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron, a space control unit located at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado.

If the incoming space plane strays off its auto-pilot trajectory over the Pacific Ocean, the craft is outfitted with a destruct mechanism.

http://ww.space.com/news/secret-x-37-b-space-plane-spotted-by-amateur-astronomers-100522.html
...
Others have pictured it too. The sightings show that the spaceplane only flies as far north as 40 degrees latitude. And now that the cat is out of the bag, you can get predictions for viewing X-37B yourself at Heavens Above.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/Cool-Astronomy/2010/0526/Amateur-astronomers-track-the-US-Air-Force-s-top-secret-X-37B-space-plane
...
But I have concluded that it is based on a few people making a lot of money and gaining power. It is about ego. It is not about our essence and who we really are on this planet and loving each other and being at peace and cooperating. It isn't about using technology to solve problems and heal people in the planet. It isn't about that. It is about a few people who really are playing an old, dangerous, costly game for their own pocketbooks and power struggle. That is all it is.

I believe that this entire space-based weapons game is initiated right here in the United States of America. What I hope is that with this information that is being disclosed, the new administration will to do what is right. That is to transform the war game into a space game so that we use the technologies that are available not just as spin-offs of war technology, but as direct technological applications to build a cooperative space system that will benefit the entire world and that will allow us to communicate with the extraterrestrial cultures that are obviously out there.

Who would benefit from these space-based weapons? They are the people who work in that arena, people in the military, in industries, in universities and labs, in the intelligence community. This is not just in the United States but it is worldwide. This is a worldwide cooperative system. Wars are cooperative. Just as peace will be when it breaks out. But right now there are a lot of people benefiting.

http://www.rense.com/general50/ec.htm
...

[TRY]

!!!!live tracking!!!! On my watch list ...

http://www.n2yo.com/?s=36514

[Dok]

ya notice how it goes right over Iran. 

[TRY]

Went over N Korea few hrs ago as well ...

***this has my FULL attention...

[TRY]

So in the live tracking the flight path is the yellow line... What is the purple line??? Reason I ask is it goes right through where the quake near Mexico hit last night with the unusal description of 'offcoast' and exactly '10' km 6.21 miles ...

I am VERY suspicious of this craft and what it's doing...

[TRY]

Is anybody else watching this thing... I can't get my attention off this craft, watching the past 30 mins it pasted over indonesia.Pakistan.N china.and about to go over N Korea ...

Trying to connect the dots here I know it's playing the spy game but I know there's more involved than that, watching quakes upon it's path as well ... I'm sensing a connection.

[TRY]

TULSA, OK -- A Tulsa man is on his version of a journey in space

Brad Young is part of an international team tracking a special plane streaking through the heavens. It looks like a fireball dashing across the sky, but space enthusiasts say it's much more.

Young is part of a team that has a front row seat.

"Well for the last month we've been trying to track X-37B," said Young, who is a member of the Astronomy Club of Tulsa.

!!!!!!!
The X-37B is an orbital test vehicle. That's NASA for experimental space plane. It was launched in mid-April and orbits the earth every 90 minutes at a comfortable 400 miles above the planet.
!!!!!!!

The X-37B will next be visible over Tulsa in about two weeks. Follow its path online.

http://m.newson6.com/(S(pk14syikq25sugedgcizmw25))/default.aspx?pid=2586&wnfeedurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.newson6.com%2fGlobal%2fstory.asp%3fS%3d13057576%26clienttype%3drssstory

***I am very certain (still gathering my sources and data) that part of the 'mission' being it does muliple task is bouncing VLF back down to earth for tomograhy and or earthquake triggering/bunker busting(imaging) ... 
So what gave this away is the 90 minute orbit .... And a particular satellite experiment many many years ago involving the idea of collecting energy in ionosphere in which failed,but they learned how to bounce vlf ulf off of it ... Look up Alaska 8.1 quake, and a major chile quake happened in coordinance with this as well same time ... Don't get me wrong this craft has many bones in the closet already ... It is up to NO GOOD! Black ops ... Spy game ... Murder. 

More coming... 

[TRY]

Thanks PDF ... Though this article has been floating around in multiple places ... I'm alittle suspicious (smoke/mirrors) ... Here's a short read in another forum that might open a few doors for digging ...

http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/forums/t/47982.aspx

[shipgeek]

ya notice how it goes right over Iran. 

You bet. What do you think they have built this Secret Shuttle for?
It is probably mapping the whole planet changing orbit the way they do.

X37-B makes the ISS look like a toy for amateur astronauts.

The Station will be scrapped in some years due to supposed lack of funds.
These unmanned vehicles will go forever.

[TRY]

China’s Shen Long vs. U.S.’s X-37B
May 8, 2010

As soon as the US Air-force launched its spaceplane demonstrator X-37B for the first time on April 24, the Chinese news media reported a Chinese spaceplane demonstrator has also been successfully tested in flight for the first time (see 中国空天实验样机成功首飞 多项难题获突破). No detailed is given in the report. The program lead is Wang Chun (王纯) of AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Design & Research Institue. It can be interpreted that China is in the competition. The above are photos that come with the report.

Now, Huanqiu news reported that the above piece was a rumor. It has disappeared from all major Chinese websites. The chief editor Xu Zelong (徐泽龙) of aviationnew.cn (中国航空报) explains: “Some new media misunderstood the original article. Then, major media websites started forwarding it. Untrue news was spread out. We never said that China successfully tested spaceplane demonstrator. We are trying to Clear up the rumor. I hope all major media cooperate, eliminate this rumor.”

This Arouses more curiosity. I did a Google search and found some related information.

This article ” ‘Shen Long’ a demonstrator of a major special project of some aviation model that can cross atmophere” (“神龙”航空某型号重大专项跨大气层飞行器演示样机（验证机） dated probably in late 2007) indicates that it is called “863″ project and it has been shown on CCTV Channel 7.

This article “Chinese ‘Shen Long’ spaceplane appears stunningly” (中国“神龙”空天飞机惊艳亮相 dated December 12, 2007) gives some technical details: First, it is the first time in China that a flight vehicle design comes up with a demonstrator from a fully digital design and management. The design environment has got attention from French company Dassault Aviation. Second, it adopts the metal integrated thermal protection technology and active thermal protection technology, which are better than ceramics used by the USA and Russia. Hence, it can achieve from 0 to 25 Mach hypersonic flight. Third, The special hybrid engine system has a break through. Fourth, The remote control center has been established in the southwest area of China. This indicates that the Chinese spaceplane has finished the engineering phase. This series of five articles has a very detailed review of spaceplane technology and history. It quoted Cal Tech trained aero-dynamics expert Dr. Zhuang Fenggan that the Chinese “Shen Long ” spaceplane will have the first flight within three years.

http://paviavio.wordpress.com/2010/05/08/chinas-shen-long-vs-us-x37b/

[TRY]

Chinese satellites bump gently. Was it a military maneuver?

September 3, 2010

Such close encounters could allow China to practice rendezvous procedures between its future space station and other spacecraft, as well as learn about satellite formation flying, said Brian Weeden, a former U.S. Air Force orbital analyst and now technical adviser for the Secure World Foundation.

The satellite rendezvous tests could also permit close-up inspection of another satellite, not unlike demonstrations performed by the United States and other countries in the past.

NASA previously experienced its own satellite bump when it launched the Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology mission on April 15, 2005. That DART mission was supposed to demonstrate automated rendezvous with a defunct U.S. Navy MUBLCOM communications satellite.

The SJ (Shi Jian, or "practice" in Mandarin Chinese) satellites typically conduct what the Chinese government has termed "scientific missions."

But some outside observers believe the satellites actually receive electronic signals for the Chinese military. They point out that no scientific research based on the work of the satellites has ever appeared.

China has good reason to want to experiment with close space maneuvers, given its plans to build a space station that would require continous resupply. Still, the lack of official Chinese information about the maneuvers has certainly allowed room for speculation.

First notice of the satellite bump came from Igor Lissov, a well-respected Russian space observer.

The Russian story suggested that the Chinese space maneuvers may point to the possibility of inspecting both their own satellites and perhaps foreign spacecraft.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0903/Chinese-satellites-bump-gently.-Was-it-a-military-maneuver

***this article makes me wander about the columbian 'meteorite' they are so sure of but no evidence yet...

...

Investigators probing what went wrong with AEHF 1

September 2, 2010

The original plan of maneuvering the communications spacecraft toward geosynchronous orbit was aborted after the Liquid Apogee Engine failed to accelerate the satellite during two attempted burns on August 15 and 17.

The system detected that the proper boost wasn't being generated and immediately terminated the operations, leaving the satellite in its initial orbit where the Atlas 5 rocket deployed the craft during launch August 14.

A decision to delay AEHF 2 from early 2011 could result in the launch slipping an entire year. The Atlas 5 rocket schedule at Cape Canaveral is jammed with other Air Force launches for the Global Positioning System, the new SBIRS missile-detection spacecraft and possibly the second X-37B spaceplane in the first half of 2011. The second half is consumed with time-critical NASA launches of the Juno probe to orbit Jupiter in August and the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity in November, which must lift off when the planets are aligned.

"If you look at the launch schedule, it is pretty busy right now, and there's also a NASA planetary blocked out period next year where they have a couple interplanetary missions going on. So if we miss our February slot, it'll be pretty sporty getting back into the manifest anytime quickly," Madden said.

"But that's an operational decision. They could re-prioritize missions or they could delay us to a later date. The bottom line is right now the manifest is pretty busy and senior leadership would have to make the call as to whether they want to change the firing order of the satellites going up."

The AEHF series of spacecraft will replace the aging Milstar constellation to provide secure communications for the military. Madden said the five Milstars continue to operate, giving the Air Force some breathing room to wait on AEHF 1.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av019/100902inquiry.html

...

[TRY]

Space Warfare - Secretive Mini-Shuttles and Spy Satellites

23 AUGUST 2010  

http://www.international.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=615:space-warfare-secretive-mini-shuttles-and-spy-satellites-&catid=36:news&Itemid=74

***lots of info here...

[TRY]

Boeing... On Spatial Station + On Duty (MILSATCOM) 
August 30, 2010

Launched on May 27, 2010, GPS IIF-1 has undergone three months of comprehensive on-orbit testing to validate its operations with the ground control system, other GPS satellites and a wide range of military and commercial GPS ground receivers. The satellite’s testing regimen was longer and more rigorous than usual because it is the first of the series. A Boeing space vehicle operations team based in Colorado helped the GPS Wing monitor and evaluate test results as GPS IIF-1 went through many of its first on-orbit operations. With testing complete, the GPS Wing has officially transferred Satellite Control Authority to the Air Force 50th Space Wing and the 2nd Space Operations Squadron, which will operate the satellite on its mission. Boeing is producing the next 11 GPS IIF satellites using an innovative pulse-line manufacturing approach adapted from the company's aircraft and helicopter assembly lines. The line enables faster, more efficient development of several satellites at once. The company also developed the current GPS ground control infrastructure, called the Operational Control Segment (OCS), which has supported an expanding set of GPS services and capabilities since 2007. 

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1786000820

[TRY]

America's Grand Strategy: Militarizing Space

MONDAY, 13 SEPTEMBER 2010

http://www.paltelegraph.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6946:americas-grand-strategy-militarizing-space&catid=82:us-news&Itemid=132

***interesting info... 

[TRY]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vDiGHCx90I&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[TRY]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Htj9epwwRPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[TRY]

Minotaur 4 rocket makes successful launch from VAFB

Sept 25 2010

http://m.santamariatimes.com/news/local/military/vandenberg/article_a2731fec-c938-11df-b81d-001cc4c03286.html
...
US space dirty-tricks spysat spying sat is go for July

June 1 2010

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/01/sbss_go_for_july/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/01/sbss_go_for_july/page2.html
...

[TRY]

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2010/09/03/01.xml&headline=USAF%20Space%20Launches%20Into%20Production%20Phase

Sept 7 2010

***lots of info here...

[TRY]

Should India Go For Space Weaponization?

11 OCTOBER 2010

Indian defence experts have suggested the need for India to go in for both defensive and offensive space systems. The defensive aspect involves hardening the satellites against the machinations of space based and ground based devices.  The offensive strategy aimed at countering the threat from ‘rogue satellites’ is to deploy satellites equipped to put out of commission an enemy spacecraft on an offensive mission. Indian defence scientists are clear that India should have a well conceived defensive and offensive plan of action to protect its space assets. Of course, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will be a key player in this endeavour.

VK Saraswat, chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has stressed that India should realize a mechanism to blunt the edge of ‘hostile’ satellites moving in the depths of space. Saraswat has revealed that the DRDO is working on realizing building blocks of an anti-satellite system. Specifically, he pointed out that laser based space sensors and exo-atmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) that DRDO is planning to develop, could monitor and knock down space based killer devices. Saraswat is of the view that space based assets are crucial for the success of India’s ballistic missile defence system that is now under testing. 

http://www.eurasiareview.com/201010119009/should-india-go-for-space-weaponization.html

***read entire article...

[TRY]

US Air Force's 'secret' space shuttle X-37B goes missing again, rumours of possible landing

October 12, 2010

Space plane reported missing again
Last seen "in orbit over landing base"
Missing since October 7
HAS the US Air Force landed its secret space plane?

The X-37B has been orbiting the Earth for 173 days since its launch on April 22.

According to the Pentagon, a second X-37B is already under construction.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/us-air-forces-secret-space-shuttle-x-37b-goes-missing-again-rumours-of-possible-landing/story-e6frfro0-1225937846236

***read entire article...
 

[TRY]

The Elusive X-37B
Oct 15 2010

Before the Internet became widely used a decade ago, you heard very little about all these injured or worn out space satellites raining down on the planet. But with the Internet, the many thousands of amateur astronomers could connect and compare notes. It was like assembling a huge jigsaw puzzle. Many sightings now formed a pattern, and a worldwide network of observers made visible the movements of hundreds of space satellites. These objects were always visible at night, sometimes to the naked eye, but unless you knew something about orbits and such, they could be difficult to keep track of. These days, a lot of the activity is posted and discussed at http://www.satobs.org/. But the X-37B has proved elusive, and has become a frustrating challenge to the amateur sky watchers. This is pleasing to American air force officials, who designed the X-37B to be elusive to terrestrial observation.

http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htspace/articles/20101015.aspx

***read entire article...

[TRY]

X37b is back in action! I never saw any reports on this better look into this...

http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/search_results_printable.php?zip=22205&PHPSESSID=15b2s929r4o07pqrocbf0hseo5

[TRY]

I just witnessed another pass of the Air Force's "secret" X-37B spacecraft.  It reached an altitude of 50 degrees and a maximum brightness of magnitude 2.3 at 6:18 p.m. EST.  I picked the X-37B up with 10x50 Celestron Ultimas, after it passed near Altair.
http://www.heavens-above.com/satinfo.aspx?SatID=36514&lat=40.240&lng=-76.920&alt=122&loc=Camp+Hill&TZ=EST
...
http://cs.astronomy.com/asycs/forums/p/49156/458097.aspx
...
***more confirmation...

[TRY]

..."The shortest and best answer is that I don't know," said space sleuth and veteran skywatcher Ted Molczan, a leader in a network of heads-up amateurs around the world monitoring the actions of the X-37B spacecraft...

...Molczan speculates that the spacecraft's orbit appears to provide several landing opportunities each day. Therefore, special pre-landing maneuvers of the space plane are not required...

..."It has made four significant maneuvers, including the latest one. All of its previous orbits resulted in ground tracks that nearly repeated after two, three, four or six days," Molczan said. "Ground tracks that nearly repeat after two, three or four days have long been a feature of U.S. imaging reconnaissance satellites, which leads me to suspect that X-37B is carrying experimental sensors for that purpose."...

...Molczan's theory appears to be backed up by similar thoughts from other veteran space watchers...

..."The mission is demonstrating one of the primary uses planned for the X-37B: flying attached sensor payloads so that their performance can be assessed before they are integrated with much more costly free-flying systems," wrote veteran space reporter Craig Covault in the November issue of the magazine Aerospace America, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics...

...But exactly how the robotic space plane fits into the U.S. security and space interests today and tomorrow leaves room for debate...

..."I just find it a fascinating program because a hypersonic space plane was one of the first space programs I looked at ... 25 years ago," said Joan Johnson-Freese, a faculty member of the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I. and a leading expert on space security issues. "Even then it wasn't clear what it would be used for, but equally clear that the Air Force really wanted one."...

..."That said, this technology could turn out to be the next GPS-type hardware ... where its uses aren't clear until it becomes operational. Given the few really new types of transportation technology since the space shuttle, it's time for something new and newer, and clearly NASA doesn't have the resources."...

..."This appears to be a case in which trying to make a flexible, one-size-fits-all system makes it suboptimal for essentially all missions," Wright said. "I still haven't seen an analysis that explains its purpose and shows that it makes sense compared to alternatives."...

..."I personally think the X-37B space plane is just a new toy for geeks in the military,"...

...satellites can do almost all the missions the space plane can do, and they can do it at a much cheaper price. "The only thing the space plane can do, [that] others can't, is to bring down a satellite and repair it."...

...However, the cost of doing so is questionable...

... the X-37B is a small vehicle with a payload capacity of roughly 500 pounds (227 kilograms), "It could hardly bring any valuable satellite down to the Earth,"...

...Given a successful de-orbit engine burn and reentry, the space plane is to wing its way to a California touchdown in autopilot mode. If the incoming space plane strays off its trajectory over the Pacific Ocean, the craft is outfitted with a destruct mechanism...

...Edwards Air Force Base, also in California, serves as backup to the Vandenberg landing strip...

...A second X-37B – called Orbital Test Vehicle 2 – is also in development, headed for a test mission slated for 2011...

http://www.space.com/news/secret-military-space-plane-nears-mission-end-101122.html

[TRY]

X-37B launch delayed due to weather

...MARCH 4, 2011...

...It appeared that the launch might occur at the first launch window, which opened at 3:50 p.m. EDT. However high-level ground winds forced a delay. The second launch window was for 5:27 p.m. EDT, but by this time the winds had increased, Cumulous Clouds had moved into the area – bringing heavy rains in with them, forcing a scrub for the day. The plans are now for a 24-hour recycle of the launch, however tomorrow does not look much better with similar weather threatening the launch...

...The first OTV, USA-212 lifted off from the exact same launch pad on 22 April 2010 and returned to Earth on Dec. 3, 2010. The return to earth tested out the space planes heat shield as well as the vehicle’s hypersonic aerodynamic aspects. The space plane is small enough to be carried within the U.S. space shuttle’s payload bay, it landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California...

http://www.universetoday.com/83745/x-37b-launch-delayed-due-to-weather/#more-83745

[TRY]

X-37B, super-secret experimental Air Force space plane, launches into orbit

...March 6th 2011...

...An experimental space plane blasted off Saturday from Cape Canaveral under a cloud of mystery, as Air Force officials kept tight-lipped on the purpose of its mission...

!The secrecy has led some industry analysts to speculate that the X-37B could be a step toward launching a space weapon that could one day cripple foreign satellites - or even drop bombs, according to the Los Angeles Times.!

!Air Force officials said the new experimental plane will serve as a test platform for satellite sensors and systems and will build on the first mission. But officials have not disclosed its true purpose.!

..."It's a mystery, because the Air Force is being so closed-mouthed about the program,"."It leads people to say, 'What exactly are they hiding?'"...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/03/06/2011-03-06_x37b_supersecret_experimental_air_force_space_plane_launches_into_orbit.html

[TRY]

U.S. military's mini space shuttle lifts off

...Mar 5, 2011...

...The experimental vehicle, known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, lifted off at 5:46 p.m. EST. It is the second ship to be put in space under the U.S. military's X-37B program...

...Like OTV-1, which returned from a 224-day mission on December 3, what OTV-2 will do in orbit, as well as any cargo or experiments that are aboard are classified...

...They are intended to test technologies and processes for low-cost, quick-turnaround, reusable space vehicles, as well as serve as orbital testbeds for instruments that could be incorporated into future satellites...

...Once operational, the X-37B could be used for a variety of missions including reconnaissance, in-space service and repair of satellites, deploying and retrieving spacecraft, and demonstrating new technologies, the Air Force said...

...OTV-1 returned from flight in good condition, paving the way for launch of its sister ship with few modifications. A more detailed inspection and analysis of OTV-1 will be undertaken as part of its refurbishment...

...OTV-1 has not yet been scheduled for a second launch, but the Air Force anticipates it will return to orbit...

...No significant changes were made to OTV-2 as a result of the OTV-1 flight...

...Minor tweaks include a reduction in the vehicle's main landing gear tire pressure by about 15 percent to help avoid repeating the blown tire that OTV-1 experienced upon touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base on December 3...

!The vehicles were built by Boeing!

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7242HI20110305?feedType=RSS&ca=rdt

[TRY]

-OTV 2 (USA 226)- 
can be found in the following categories:
*Military*
NORAD ID: 37375   
Int'l Code: 2011-010A 
Launch date: March 5, 2011 
Source: United States (US) 

...The launch marks the start of the X-37 B programme's second space mission. The air force's other X-37B plane, known as OTV-1 , returned to Earth in December 2010 after a similarly mysterious seven-month maiden mission. This is a classified mission...

http://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=37375

-

***awaiting tracking, check back!!!

[TRY]

X37B-2 OTV2 usa 226 siesmic relations

... I picked up on this with the OTV1 X-37b and is now time to scream about this once again. it is quite obvious upper atmospheric dynamics is of interest in many ways "not being spoken of", due to things such as the artificial manipulations of the ionosphere (the heaters), but also the natural joule heating events such as lightning and solar activity too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXolnqhN4tU

Dutchsinse even picked up on this->

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UruWtJM0nfU

(in my thoughts dutch)

!!!X37B-2 OTV2 usa 226 REALTIME TRACKING!!!

http://www.n2yo.com/?s=37375

!!!PAY ATTENTION HERE!!!

[TRY]

Interesting video w/ AJ audio ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTBGsKVqmVI&feature=watch_response

[TRY]

!!!watching this last night it got to the SW side of austrailia and had an expecting orbiting path over tasmania and new zealand, given the history of such events like the christ church siesmic activity my RED FLAG ALERTS were bouncing off the scale ... sure enough LARGE siesmic activity has since happened in the vicinity->

7.1     2011/08/20 16:55:03     -18.260      168.069    40.6     VANUATU
.
 7.0     2011/08/20 18:19:25     -18.287      168.132    28.5     VANUATU

CHECK THE REAL TIME LINK!!! IT PASSED OVER .... HEADS UP PEOPLE!!!!

[sentinelscout]

The "terrorists" still haven't figured out how to build a tank or a jeep.

why would we need such a weapon.... who is it intended to attack?

Such a weapon only has applications against a large army like China, Russia...

[9/11-insider trading]

X37B-2 OTV2 usa 226 siesmic relations

... I picked up on this with the OTV1 X-37b and is now time to scream about this once again. it is quite obvious upper atmospheric dynamics is of interest in many ways "not being spoken of", due to things such as the artificial manipulations of the ionosphere (the heaters), but also the natural joule heating events such as lightning and solar activity too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXolnqhN4tU

Dutchsinse even picked up on this->

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UruWtJM0nfU

(in my thoughts dutch)

!!!X37B-2 OTV2 usa 226 REALTIME TRACKING!!!

http://www.n2yo.com/?s=37375

!!!PAY ATTENTION HERE!!!

Holy shit TRY! I didn't even hear about the x 37.

Dutchsinse is awesome and it's great he made the Japan observation!

"The X-37 was transferred from NASA to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on 13 September 2004.[3] The program has become a classified project, although it is not known whether DARPA will maintain this status for the project."

"it was completed and was first launched in March 2011.[22]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-37

Boeing is also directly involved with chemtrails with the Hughes patents. There is also this, not sure if it is bogus though.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/haarp/esp_HAARP_48.htm

But lately reading through the DARPA barium cloud experiments who knows...

[TRY]

X-37B Unmanned Space Plane Completes Secret 460-Day Air Force Mission

June 19, 2012

...The U.S. Air Force's X-37B unmanned space plane safely landed on Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California after over a year in orbit.  The plane was launched from Vandenberg aboard an Atlas V rocket in April 2010...

...One possibility that lies somewhere in-between pure intelligence and militarization is that the shuttle was mapping Earth orbits looking for stealth military satellites from China or Russia, which could be then tracked and destroyed at a later date with (cheaper) conventional land-based rocket payloads if the need arose...

http://www.dailytech.com/X37B+Unmanned+Space+Plane+Completes+Secret+460Day+Air+Force+Mission/article24969.htm

***full article with pix and video^^^