Air Force's secretive space plane nears maiden voyage

You would think that an unpiloted space plane built to rocket spaceward from Florida atop an Atlas booster, circle the planet for an extended time, then land on autopilot on a California runway would be big news. But for the U.S. Air Force X-37B project — seemingly, mum's the word.There is an air of vagueness regarding next year's Atlas Evolved Expendable launch of the unpiloted, reusable military space plane. The X-37B will be cocooned within the Atlas rocket's launch shroud — a ride that's far from cheap

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fef711bad13a.jpg[/atsimg] Courtsey: Source.[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/850a49112585.jpg[/atsimg] More pics, Fox,comSource

I have not heard much on this project and I'm not sure others have either but with an alleged April launch date, rapidly approaching we may hear more in the coming months. This is said to be a military space plane so I wonder if it's armed and if so with what. I'll try to dig up some more info and post as I as can with it.





[edit on 25-10-2009 by alyosha1981]

It looks more like the space shuttle. And I dont see the big deal here anyway. The old shuttle is itself capable of landing automatically. The only reason why NASA doesnt allow shuttles to land automatically is that they dont want to risk a billion dollar vehicle.

reply to post by peacejet


Sure but this is an Air Force toy which make me wonder if they want to test some space capable weapons under the guise of "normal" space travel.

It's hard to believe that anything that can fly could be that ugly.
www.aviation-news.co.uk...

I think that at this stage of the game we aren't very close to a weapons platform. It's a proof of concept project...see if we can pull it off then take it from there.

reply to post by Phage


It is ugly that's for sure but some (including me) said the same of the predator when given a first glimpse but now look at them, and weaponized to boot!

They are getting rid of the shuttle because its dangerous.

But heres the airforce building there own space plane for reasons unknown.
and they have never said what use it will have.
or if it will be armed.

Is this a carrier for the "Rods from God" weapon.

That would go along with Obama wanting to get rid of nuclear weapons if the Rods from God weapons system was a replacement.
en.wikipedia.org...
www.freerepublic.com...

The cost of a single B2 was 0.5 BILLION (that's with a B). You could have 40 "Rods from God" orbiting for the cost of one B2.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

With a airforce space plane they could service a rods platform or drop smaller Crowbars from God
The most described system is 'an orbiting tungsten telephone pole with small fins and a computer in the back for guidance.' The weapon can be down-scaled, an orbiting "crowbar" rather than a pole.

[edit on 25-10-2009 by ANNED]

reply to post by ANNED


All very good points, I imagine a whole fleet of these "mini shuttles" weaponized in orbit and coming down only to fire then shooting back up.

The Air Force is supposedly going to lauch this next month. Here's a video of it. Nothing spectacular IMO.

www.bing.com...