By 
June 5th, 2017
The first X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle waits in the encapsulation cell of the Evolved Expendable Launch vehicle on April 5, 2010 at the Astrotech facility in Titusville, Fla. Half of the Atlas V five-meter fairing is visible in the background.
Credit: U.S. Air Force
The Secure World Foundation (SWF) has issued an updated version of the group’s fact sheet on the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle.
This fact sheet includes details on the first four flights of the two X-37Bs, including launch and re-entry locations and dates, as well as updated analysis of the various missions the X-37B could potentially be used for while on orbit.
Recovery crew members process the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle at Vandenberg Air Force Base after the program’s third mission complete.
Credit: Boeing
Official objectives of the X-37B program include “space experimentation, risk reduction and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies.”
The SWF fact sheet notes that “none of the potential missions posited by the U.S. military appear to justify the program’s existence, especially on a cost basis, and this has led to speculation about what the ‘real’ mission may be.”
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle mission 4 (OTV-4), the Air Force’s unmanned, reusable space plane, landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility May 7, 2017.
Credit: USAF
The fact sheet discusses the feasibility, advantages, and drawbacks of five of the most cited potential missions for the X-37B.
The SWF fact sheet can be found here:
https://swfound.org/media/205879/swf_x-37b_otv_fact_sheet.pdf
Posted in Space News
