The X37 was successfully tested in drop flights in California in 2005 and 2006.
The US Air Force will launch a somewhat mystery mission with the new mini-space shuttle known now by the moniker X37-B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) on Monday April 19, 2010 amid some measure of secrecy. Liftoff should occur the evening of April 19 in a launch window opening at 6:49 p.m. EDT and closing at 9:12 p.m. EDT with a landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. up to 270-days later, according to an Air Force spokesperson.
The ultimate purpose of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle and details about the craft, which has been passed between several government agencies, however, remain a mystery. As the quietly scheduled launch culminates the project's long and expensive journey from NASA to the Pentagon's research and development arm DARPA and then to a secretive Air Force unit known as the Rapid Capabilities Office, the launch will mark a new era in military space for the United States.
While the massive space shuttles have been likened to cargo-hauling trucks, the X-37B is more like a sports car, with the equivalent trunk capacity, noted the Associated Press.
The ultimate purpose of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle and details about the craft, which has been passed between several government agencies, however, remain a mystery. As the quietly scheduled launch culminates the project's long and expensive journey from NASA to the Pentagon's research and development arm DARPA and then to a secretive Air Force unit known as the Rapid Capabilities Office, the launch will mark a new era in military space for the United States.
While the massive space shuttles have been likened to cargo-hauling trucks, the X-37B is more like a sports car, with the equivalent trunk capacity, noted the Associated Press.
The Japanese space agency [JAXA] expended hundreds of millions of dollars on a prototype mini-space shuttle with the name HOPE-X [vid] while the European Space Agency did some initial testing for a mini-shuttle with the name Hermes [vid] but both abandoned the development programs. The Russians have talked-up Kliper and India the new Avatar spacecraft [vid]. Yet it is the X37-B that will fly April 19 - stay tuned for updates.
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