Boeing X-37: Development
Boeing X-37: Development
Boeing X-37: Development
The Boeing X-37, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is
a reusable robotic spacecraft. It is boosted into space by a launch
X-37
vehicle, then re-enters Earth's atmosphere and lands as a spaceplane.
The X-37 is operated by the United States Space Force, and was
previously operated by Air Force Space Command[3] until 2019 for
orbital spaceflight missions intended to demonstrate reusable space
technologies. It is a 120-percent-scaled derivative of the earlier
Boeing X-40. The X-37 began as a NASA project in 1999, before
being transferred to the United States Department of Defense in 2004.
The X-37 first flew during a drop test in 2006; its first orbital mission
was launched in April 2010 on an Atlas V rocket, and returned to
Earth in December 2010. Subsequent flights gradually extended the
mission duration, reaching 780 days in orbit for the fifth mission, the
first to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket. The latest mission, the sixth,
launched on an Atlas V on 17 May 2020.
Contents
Development An X-37B inside its payload fairing
Origins Role Uncrewed
Glide testing spaceplane
X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle National origin United States
Speculation regarding purpose
Manufacturer Boeing
Processing
First flight 7 April 2006 (first
Design drop test)
Operational history Introduction 22 April 2010
OTV-1
(first spaceflight)
OTV-2
Status In service
OTV-3
OTV-4 5 spaceflights
OTV-5 completed[1]
OTV-6 (USSF 7) 6th spaceflight in
progress[2]
Variants
X-37A Primary user X-37A:
X-37B NASA/DARPA
X-37C X-37B: United
Specifications States Space
X-37B Force
Development
Origins
The X-37 was transferred from NASA to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on 13
September 2004.[9] Thereafter, the program became a classified project. DARPA promoted the X-37 as part of
the independent space policy that the United States Department of Defense has pursued since the 1986
Challenger disaster.
Glide testing
The vehicle that was used as an atmospheric drop test glider had no
propulsion system. Instead of an operational vehicle's payload bay
doors, it had an enclosed and reinforced upper fuselage structure to
allow it to be mated with a mothership. In September 2004, DARPA
announced that for its initial atmospheric drop tests the X-37 would be
launched from the Scaled Composites White Knight, a high-altitude
research aircraft.[10]
On 21 June 2005, the X-37A completed a captive-carry flight The Scaled Composites White
underneath the White Knight from Mojave Spaceport in Mojave, Knight was used to launch the X-37A
on glide tests.
California.[11][12] Through the second half of 2005, the X-37A
underwent structural upgrades, including the reinforcement of its nose
wheel supports. The X-37's public debut was scheduled for its first free flight on 10 March 2006, but was
canceled due to an Arctic storm.[13] The next flight attempt, on 15 March 2006, was canceled due to high
winds.[13]
On 24 March 2006, the X-37 flew again, but a datalink failure prevented a free flight, and the vehicle returned
to the ground still attached to its White Knight carrier aircraft. On 7 April 2006, the X-37 made its first free
glide flight. During landing, the vehicle overran the runway and sustained minor damage.[14] Following the
vehicle's extended downtime for repairs, the program moved from Mojave to Air Force Plant 42 (KPMD) in
Palmdale, California, for the remainder of the flight test program. White Knight continued to be based at
Mojave, though it was ferried to Plant 42 when test flights were scheduled. Five additional flights were
performed,[N 1] two of which resulted in X-37 releases with successful landings. These two free flights
occurred on 18 August 2006 and 26 September 2006.[15]
On 17 November 2006, the U.S. Air Force announced that it would develop its own variant from NASA's X-
37A. The Air Force version was designated the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). The OTV program was
built on earlier industry and government efforts by DARPA, NASA, and the Air Force under the leadership of
the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office in partnership with NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
Boeing was the prime contractor for the OTV program.[6][16][17] The X-37B was designed to remain in orbit
for up to 270 days at a time.[18] The Secretary of the Air Force stated that the OTV program would focus on
"risk reduction, experimentation, and operational concept development for reusable space vehicle
technologies, in support of long-term developmental space objectives".[16]
The X-37B was originally scheduled for launch in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle, but following the
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, it was transferred to a Delta II 7920. The X-37B was subsequently
transferred to a shrouded configuration on the Atlas V rocket, following concerns over the unshrouded
spacecraft's aerodynamic properties during launch.[19] Following their missions, X-37B spacecraft primarily
land on a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, with Edwards Air Force Base as a secondary
site.[20] In 2010, manufacturing work began on the second X-37B, OTV-2,[21] which conducted its maiden
launch in March 2011.[22]
On 8 October 2014, NASA confirmed that X-37B vehicles would be housed at Kennedy Space Center in
Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF) 1 and 2, hangars previously occupied by the Space Shuttle. Boeing had
said the space planes would use OPF-1 in January 2014, and the Air Force had previously said it was
considering consolidating X-37B operations, housed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, nearer to
their launch site at Cape Canaveral. NASA also stated that the program had completed tests to determine
whether the X-37B, one-fourth the size of the Space Shuttle, could land on the former Shuttle runways.[23]
NASA furthermore stated that renovations of the two hangars would be completed by the end of 2014; the
main doors of OPF-1 were marked with the message "Home of the X-37B" by this point.[23]
Most of the activities of the X-37B project are secret. The official U.S. Air Force statement is that the project is
"an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, uncrewed space test
platform for the U.S. Air Force".[24] The primary objectives of the X-37B are twofold: reusable spacecraft
technology and operating experiments which can be returned to Earth.[24] The Air Force states that this
includes testing avionics, flight systems, guidance and navigation, thermal protection, insulation, propulsion,
and re-entry systems.[25]
In January 2012, allegations were made that the X-37B was being used to spy on China's Tiangong-1 space
station module.[27] Former U.S. Air Force orbital analyst Brian Weeden later refuted this claim, emphasizing
that the different orbits of the two spacecraft precluded any practical surveillance flybys.[28]
In October 2014, The Guardian reported the claims of security experts that the X-37B was being used "to test
reconnaissance and spy sensors, particularly how they hold up against radiation and other hazards of orbit".[29]
In November 2016, the International Business Times speculated that the U.S. government was testing a
version of the EmDrive electromagnetic microwave thruster on the fourth flight of the X-37B.[30] In 2009, an
EmDrive technology transfer contract with Boeing was undertaken via a State Department TAA and a UK
export license, approved by the UK Ministry of Defence.[31][32] Boeing has since stated that it is no longer
pursuing this area of research.[33] The U.S. Air Force has stated that the X-37B is testing a Hall-effect thruster
system for Aerojet Rocketdyne.[34]
In July 2019, former United States Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson explained that when an X-37B
was in an elliptic orbit it could at perigee use the thin atmosphere to make an orbit change preventing some
observers from discovering the new orbit for a while, permitting secret activities.[35]
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell, editor of Jonathan's Space Report, has stated that satellites launched from
the X-37B were not reported, as required by the Registration Convention, to the United Nations Office for
Outer Space Affairs so other parties to the convention would not know about them.[36]
The Chinese Space Program landed its first reusable winged space plane on 6 September
2020.[37][38][39][40][41][42] It was reported to weigh 48,000 lb (21.6 t), and be 29 feet (8.8 m) long, i.e. closer
to size of the X-37 than the space shuttle.[43] Knowledgeable commentators speculated that the Chinese built
their space plane to follow the US's X-37 example.[44]
Processing
Processing for the X-37 is done inside Bays 1 and 2 of the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at Kennedy
Space Center in Florida, where the vehicle is loaded with its top-secret payload. The X-37 is then placed
inside a fairing along with its stage adapter and transported to the launch site. Previous launch sites have
included SLC-41 and Kennedy Space Center LC-39A.[45][46]
Landing is done at one of three sites across the US: the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center,
Vandenberg Air Force Base, or Edwards Air Force Base. To return to Kennedy Space Center, the X-37 is
placed into a payload canister and loaded into a Boeing C-17 cargo plane. Once at Kennedy, the X-37 is
unloaded and towed to the OPF, where it is prepared for its next flight.
Design
The X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle is a reusable robotic spaceplane. It is an approximately 120-percent-scale
derivative of the Boeing X-40,[4][20] measuring over 29 feet (8.8 m) in length, and features two angled tail
fins.[24][47] The X-37 launches atop an Atlas V 501[24][17] or a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.[48] The spaceplane is
designed to operate in a speed range of up to Mach 25 on its reentry.[49][50]
The technologies demonstrated in the X-37 include an
improved thermal protection system, enhanced
avionics, an autonomous guidance system and an
advanced airframe.[8] The spaceplane's thermal
protection system is built upon previous generations of
atmospheric reentry spacecraft,[51] incorporating silica
ceramic tiles.[52] The X-37's avionics suite was used by
Boeing to develop its CST-100 crewed spacecraft.[53]
The development of the X-37 was to "aid in the design
and development of NASA's Orbital Space Plane, The X-37 (far right) is the smallest and lightest
designed to provide a crew rescue and crew transport orbital spaceplane yet flown. Both the North
capability to and from the International Space Station", American X-15 and SpaceShipOne were suborbital.
according to a NASA fact sheet.[54] Of the spaceplanes shown, only the X-37 and Buran
conducted uncrewed spaceflights.
The X-37 for NASA was to be powered by one
Aerojet AR2-3 engine using storable propellants,
providing thrust of 6,600 pounds-force (29.4 kN).[55] The human-rated AR2-3 engine had been used on the
dual-power NF-104A astronaut training vehicle and was given a new flight certification for use on the X-37
with hydrogen peroxide/JP-8 propellants.[56] This was reportedly changed to a hypergolic nitrogen-
tetroxide/hydrazine propulsion system.[19][57]
The X-37 lands automatically upon returning from orbit and is the third reusable spacecraft to have such a
capability, after the Soviet Buran shuttle[58] and the U.S. space shuttle, which had automatic landing capability
by the mid-1990s, but never tested it.[59][60] The X-37 is the smallest and lightest orbital spaceplane flown to
date; it has a launch mass of around 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) and is approximately one quarter of the size of
the Space Shuttle orbiter.[61]
On 13 April 2015, the Space Foundation awarded the X-37 team with the 2015 Space Achievement Award
"for significantly advancing the state of the art for reusable spacecraft and on-orbit operations, with the design,
development, test and orbital operation of the X-37B space flight vehicle over three missions totaling 1,367
days in space".[62]
Operational history
As of October 2019, the two operational X-37Bs have completed five orbital missions; they have spent a
combined 2,865 days (7.85 years) in space.
Launch Landing Mission
Flight Vehicle Launcher [63] Duration Notes
date date
16 June
5 March 468 days,
OTV- 2012 Atlas V USA- First flight of second X-
2 2011 14 hours,
2 12:48 501 226 37B
22:46 UTC 2 minutes
UTC
17
11
October 674 days,
OTV- December Atlas V USA- Second flight of first X-
1 2014 22 hours,
3 2012 501 240 37B
16:24 21 minutes
18:03 UTC
UTC
27
7 First launch of an X-37B
October 779 days,
OTV- September USA- on SpaceX's Falcon 9
unknown 2019 Falcon 9 17 hours,
5 2017 277 vehicle
07:51 51 minutes
14:00 UTC
UTC Longest X-37B mission
OTV-1
OTV-2
The second X-37B launched on its inaugural mission, designated OTV-2/USA-226,[72] aboard an Atlas V
rocket from Cape Canaveral SLC-41 on 5 March 2011 at 22:46 UTC.[22] The mission was classified and
described by the U.S. military as an effort to test new space technologies.[73] On 29 November 2011, the U.S.
Air Force announced that it would extend USA-226 beyond the 270-day baseline duration.[74] In April 2012,
General William L. Shelton of the Air Force Space Command declared the ongoing mission a "spectacular
success".[75]
On 30 May 2012, the Air Force stated that the X-37B would land at Vandenberg AFB in June 2012.[76][77]
The spacecraft landed autonomously on 16 June 2012, having spent 468 days and 14 hours in
space.[22][78][79]
OTV-3
The third mission and second flight of the first X-37B, OTV-3 was originally scheduled to launch on 25
October 2012,[80] but was postponed because of an engine issue with the Atlas V launch vehicle.[81] It was
successfully launched from Cape Canaveral SLC-41 on 11 December 2012 at 18:03 UTC.[61][82][83] Once in
orbit, the spacecraft was designated USA-240.[84][85] Landing occurred at Vandenberg AFB on 17 October
2014 at 16:24 UTC, after a total time in orbit of 674 days and 22 hours.[82][86][87][88]
OTV-4
OTV-5
The fifth X-37B mission, designated USA-277 in orbit,[63] was launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch
Complex 39A on 7 September 2017 at 14:00 UTC, just before the arrival of Hurricane Irma.[94][95] The
launch vehicle was a Falcon 9 rocket,[95] and a number of small satellites also shared the ride.[96] The
spacecraft was inserted at a higher inclination orbit than previous missions, further expanding the X-37B's
envelope.[96] During the flight, the spacecraft modified its orbit using an on-board propulsion system.[97]
While the complete payload for OTV-5 is classified, the Air Force announced that one experiment flying is the
Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader II (ASETS-II), which measures the performance of an
oscillating heat pipe.[98] The mission was completed with the vehicle landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility
on 27 October 2019 at 07:51 UTC.[1][99]
OTV-6 (USSF 7)
The sixth X-37B mission (OTV-6), U.S. Space Force 7 (formerly known as AFSPC 7), launched on an Atlas
V 501 rocket from Cape Canaveral SLC-41 on 17 May 2020 at 13:14 UTC.[2] The mission hosts more
experiments than prior X-37B flights, including two NASA experiments. One is a sample plate evaluating the
reaction of select materials to conditions in space. The second studies the effect of ambient space radiation on
seeds. A third experiment designed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) transforms solar power into
radio frequency microwave energy, then studies transmitting that energy to Earth. The X-37B remains a
Department of the Air Force asset, but the newly established U.S. Space Force is responsible for the launch,
on-orbit operations, and landing.[100][101]
The X-37B released a small, 300 pounds (136 kg) satellite named FalconSAT-8 (USA-300) around 28 May
2020.[102] Developed by United States Air Force Academy cadets in partnership with the Air Force Research
Laboratory (AFRL), the small satellite carries five experimental payloads. The spacecraft will test a novel
electromagnetic propulsion system, low-weight antenna technology and a commercial reaction wheel to
provide attitude control in orbit. According to the United States Air Force Academy, FalconSAT-8's
experiments include:[103]
Variants
X-37A
The X-37A Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV) was an initial NASA version of the spacecraft used
in drop glide tests in 2005 and 2006.[12][104]
X-37B
The X-37B is a modified version of the NASA X-37A, built for the U.S. Air Force.[24] Two were built and
have been used for multiple orbital missions.[82]
X-37C
In 2011, Boeing announced plans for a scaled-up variant of the X-37B, referring to it as the X-37C. The X-
37C spacecraft would be between 165% and 180% of the size of the X-37B, allowing it to transport up to six
astronauts inside a pressurized compartment housed in the cargo bay. Its proposed launch vehicle was the
Atlas V.[105] In this role, Boeing's X-37C could potentially compete with the corporation's CST-100 Starliner
commercial space capsule.[106]
Specifications
X-37B
Data from USAF,[24][51] Boeing,[107] Air & Space Magazine,[104] and
Phys.org[108]
General characteristics
Crew: none
Length: 29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
Wingspan: 14 ft 11 in (4.55 m)
Height: 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m)
Max takeoff weight: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg)
Electrical power: Gallium arsenide solar cells with
lithium-ion batteries[24]
Payload bay: 7 × 4 ft (2.1 × 1.2 m)[107]
See also
Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar, the U.S. Air Force's previous spaceplane, which was canceled in the
1960s
Dream Chaser, a lifting-body spaceplane being developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation
Orbital Sciences X-34, a proposed uncrewed suborbital reusable-rocket technology testbed
Related lists
Notes
1. Source of flights: mission markings posted on side of White Knight aircraft.
2. This figure is based on pre-launch design estimates; it does not reflect the spacecraft's actual
performance capacity.
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General references
Bentley, Matthew A. (2008). Spaceplanes: From Airport to Spaceport. New York: Springer.
Bibcode:2009sfas.book.....B (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009sfas.book.....B). ISBN 978-
0-387-76509-9.
Gump, David P. (1989). Space Enterprise: Beyond NASA. Westport, CT: Praeger. ISBN 978-0-
275-93314-2.
Miller, Jay (2001). The X-Planes: X-1 to X-45. Hinckley, UK: Midland. ISBN 978-1-85780-109-5.
Yenne, Bill (2005). The Story of the Boeing Company. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith. ISBN 978-0-
7603-2333-5.
External links
X-37 Orbital Test Vehicle fact sheet (http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Ar
ticle/104539/x-37b-orbital-test-vehicle.aspx) from the U.S. Air Force
X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle page (https://web.archive.org/web/20150330221458/http://www.boei
ng.com/boeing/defense-space/ic/sis/x37b_otv/x37b_otv.page) at Boeing.com
X-37 fact sheet (http://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news/background/facts/x37facts2.html)
at NASA.gov
X-37 (http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/x-37.htm), X-37A (http://www.globalsecurity.
org/space/systems/x-37a.htm) and X-37B (http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/x-37b.h
tm) pages at GlobalSecurity.org
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