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Science & Technology
US to launch secret space warplane
2010-04-20
[Iran Press TV Latest] The United States Air Force has announced that it will launch a secret space plane that has sparked speculation about the militarization of space.
If they announced it, how can it still be a secret?
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.
Ummm... if the Iran Press TV news reader knows that much detail, what, exactly, is still secret?
Since the nature of the project is shrouded in mystery,
Is it the shroud that's the secret?
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.
I'm very confused. Both the Iran Press TV news reader and the Christian Science Monitor journalists and editors, not to mention their dinner party guests and the significant others of all thus far mentioned, are aware of this, to whom exactly is any aspect of this a secret?
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.
Would those be Iranian military experts, American military experts, or someone else's military experts?
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.
Posted by:Fred

#13  WMF > CHINA DESIRES TO WEAKEN OR NULLIFY US INFLUENCE, MILITARY POWER IN THE SECOND ISLAND CHAIN [icluds GUAM-CNMI] BEFORE THE YEAR 2040.

30 years or less than today.

* SAME > HOW CHINA CAN FOSTER THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE US FROM ITS GUAM BASE AND CENTRAL PACIFIC: IT BEGINS WITH OKINAWA AND SOUTH KOREA!?

Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-04-20 22:29  

#12  Actually it is not a warplane.

And my cat knew about it.
Posted by: Kelly   2010-04-20 19:39  

#11  Psst...but don't tell them about the double super secret design.
Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-04-20 09:16


No, this is the double super secret design.



Don't tell anyone.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia   2010-04-20 17:33  

#10  [long list of names] and the significant others of all thus far mentioned, are aware of this, to whom exactly is any aspect of this a secret?

My sister's dog, for one. He seemed quite surprised and very interested when I told him about the secret space plane. When asked if he thought the maiden flight would go smoothly, Hickory replied "Rough." Let's hope he is wrong.
Posted by: SteveS   2010-04-20 17:24  

#9  Psst...but don't tell them about the double super secret design.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2010-04-20 09:16  

#8  Obviously a test of the effects of assembling a critical mass of groundless conjecture emanating from a collection of self-anointed experts buffoons. Should be informative...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2010-04-20 08:47  

#7  X37-B has been around for a while and not really a secret. They weren't ready for a launch until about now, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2010-04-20 08:16  

#6  Animation of mission profile for our Iranian friends.

Posted by: Throper Forkbeard7372   2010-04-20 07:21  

#5  That would be the Outer Space Treaty that Iran hasn't ratified.
Posted by: phil_b   2010-04-20 04:19  

#4  TOPIX > DOES THE US MILITARY STILL NEED TANKS? | IS THE US ARMY'S ARMOR BRANCH DEFUNCT?

ARTIC > "Defunct" as RELEVANT as in US-NATO fighting insurgents in AFPAK 2010, NOT the COLD WAR USSR-WARPACT in FULDA GAP; or "INCOMPETENT" as Author claims Armor Brch has assigned Service personnel to it whom are NOT even qualified to drive, operate, or fix anything e.g. on the M1 Abrams MBT???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-04-20 02:40  

#3  Wanted for questioning.

Posted by: Mizzou Mafia   2010-04-20 02:16  

#2  It's obvious to me that the vehicle is being used by the military as a platform to test technologies they eventually hope to use in a reusable launch vehicle, and all the people talking about how they don't really see how it makes sense are just the usual suspects who have been saying for the past twenty years that reusable launchers can never work and we should never try.

--------------------

As to the Outer Space Treaty, well, last I checked, everyone else and their pets already had military satellites of one sort or another. I really don't see the point in getting the vapors over this.

(Amazing how much Iran Press TV can sound like the mealy-mouthed critics at home, isn't it?)
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2010-04-20 00:51  

#1  ION WMF > FORMER USPACOM CHIEF ADM KEATING: TOTAL/FORMAL US MARINES WITHDRAWAL FROM OKINAWA, JAPAN WILL WEAKEN THE FIGHTING POWER OF THE US FROM ITS GUAM BASES [OTH force projection, Deterrence], AND REDUCE THE US GEOSTRATEGIC OR GEOPOL POSITION THROUGHOUT ASIA-PACIFIC REGION.

* SAME > US IN SHOCK: CHINA HAS ENOUGH SRBMS, MBMS TO "SETTLE" THE FIRST ISLAND CHAIN
[win "decisve battle" agz US-Allied].

* SAME > ONE MOUNTAIN CANNOT ACCOMODATE TWO OR MORE GREAT TIGERS: TO BECOME A TRUE GLOBAL SUPERPOWER, RISING CHINA MUST OVERCOME THE THREE GREAT BARRIERS OF THE US, RUSSIA, AND THE EUROPEAN UNION IN ASIA, WORLD.

* SAME > YONHAP TOKYO MEDIA: TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINTARO ISHIHARA SAYS DESPITE HUMILIATION IT WAS KOREA'S OWN CHOICE TO MERGE AND BECOME A VASSAL STATE OF JAPAN AT THE TURN OF THE 20TH CENTURY ["Korean Annexation"] RATHER THAN BECOME A VASSAL STATE OF TSARIST RUSSIA. KOREA, NOW SOUTH KOREA, MADE THE PROPER/CORRECT ALBEIT DIFFICULT CHOICE IN ITS NATIONAL INTERESTS AND DID RECEIVE CORE BENEFIT FROM JAPAN. Manchu Imperial China as the then historic "Weak Man of Asia" back then could not milpol or geopol stop the modern powers of Russia + Europe [+ even US] from doing anything to China.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2010-04-20 00:49  

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