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.

While the
launch range approval is still forthcoming, SPACE.com has learned that
the U.S. Air Force has the X-37B manifested for an April 2010
liftoff.

As a
mini-space plane, this Boeing Phantom Works craft has been under development
for years. Several agencies have been involved in the effort, NASA as well as
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and various arms of the
U.S. Air Force.

Over the last
few months, I've been in touch with DARPA, Boeing, the Pentagon, the U.S. Air
Force Space Command, as well as NASA itself. Either you get a "not in our
portfolio" or are given a "go to" pass to another agency. Just a few weeks ago, I
even commandeered a face-to-face "no comment" from a top Pentagon official for
Air Force space programs about X-37B.

Tight-lipped
factor

The
tight-lipped factor surrounding the space plane, its mission, and who is in
charge is curious. Such a hush-hush factor seems to mimic in pattern that mystery
communications spacecraft lofted last month aboard an Atlas 5 rocket, simply
called PAN. Its assignment and what agency owns it remains undisclosed.

But in a
brief burst of light eking from the new era of government transparency, I did
score this comment from NASA.

While the
program is now under the U.S. Air Force, NASA is looking forward to receiving
data from the advanced technology work.

"NASA has a
long history of involvement with the X-37 program. We continue to monitor and
share information on technology developments," said Gary Wentz, chief engineer
Science and Missions Systems Office at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. "We
are looking forward to a successful first flight and to receiving data from
some advanced technologies of interest to us, such as thermal protection
systems, guidance, navigation and control, and materials for autonomous
re-entry and landing."

The vehicle
itself is about 29 feet long with a roughly 15-foot wingspan and weighs in at
over five tons at liftoff.  Speeding down from space, the craft would likely
make use of Runway 12/30 — 15,000 feet long by 200
feet wide — at Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California.

Vandenberg serves
as an emergency space shuttle landing strip, as a second backup after
California's Edwards Air Force Base – which has also been noted as a landing
spot for the X-37B.

Once in
orbit, what such a vehicle might enable depends on the eye of the beholder.
Intelligence gathering, kicking off small satellites, testing space gear are
feasible duties, as is developing reusable space vehicle technologies.

Space
test platform

Just last
month, a U.S. Air Force fact sheet noted that the Air Force Rapid Capabilities
Office (RCO), located in Washington, D.C. "is working on the X-37B Orbital Test
Vehicle to demonstrate a reliable, reusable, unmanned
space test platform for the United States Air Force."

The mission
of the RCO is to expedite development and fielding of select Department of
Defense combat support and weapon systems by leveraging defense-wide technology
development efforts and existing operational capabilities.

"The
problem with it [X37-B] is whether you see it as a weapons platform," said
Theresa Hitchens, former head of the Center for Defense Information's
Space Security Program, now Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva, Switzerland.

"It then
becomes, if I am not mistaken, a Global Strike platform. There are a lot of reasons
to be concerned about Global Strike as a concept," Hitchens told SPACE.com.

The implications of the program as a
possible space weapon are surely not lost on potential U.S. competitors,
Hitchens said, who may well see
anti-satellites (ASATs) as a leveler.

"Would this thing be vulnerable to
ASATs? Yes, if it stayed on orbit any length of time," Hitchens added. "While I
see value of such a platform as a pop-up reconnaissance or even communications
platform, if weaponized it becomes yet another reason for other nations to consider
building dangerous ASATs," she cautioned.

Another
mission question is, to what extent the X-37B might play into the recent
announcement that NASA is partnering with the U.S. Air Force Research
Laboratory to develop a technology roadmap for the commercial reusable launch
vehicle, or RLV, industry.

All that
said, and after years in the making, the X-37B is approaching its first
globe-trotting, milestone making and historic flight – that much is known.

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Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for
more than four decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space
Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com
since 1999.

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