In mid-October, NASA officially confirmed that two former shuttle hangars, located on the territory of the Kennedy Space Center, will be used as part of a secret military space program. It is reported that the devices created under the US Air Force X-37B program will occupy two buildings for the preparation of the orbital stations OPF1 and OPF2 (Orbiter Processing Facilities).
These enclosures are interconnected and located near the vertical assembly enclosure. The partnership between the military and NASA implies that both hulls will be used for their intended purpose - to service aircraft. This is stated in a press release from the American space agency. Terms and details of the agreement were not disclosed. Air Force officials did not comment.
The Boeing Corporation, which is implementing the X-37B unmanned spacecraft project, announced in January 2014 its plans to use the first building to prepare the OPF1 orbital station. At that time, representatives of the Air Force also did not comment on this information in any way, but they previously said that they had studied the possible savings potential from the consolidation of operations under the X-37B program, which was tied to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with the Kennedy Space Center. The budget for this program is classified. In October 2014, NASA announced that the upgrade of the two hangars involved in the deal would be completed by the end of this year.
It is worth noting that one of the most secret American military space programs will be based in a place visited by millions of tourists. The Kennedy Space Center is home to the American Space Exploration Center. The territory of the center occupies more than 50 thousand hectares on the world-famous Cape Canaveral. For more than 50 years, this sandy and silted area on the Atlantic coast has been a launching pad for many space programs, a kind of space gateway for the United States.
Like any space object, it is a very complex and technically advanced place that is open to the public. Every year millions of tourists from all over the world visit the holy of holies of the American cosmonautics "live". This is not surprising, since everyone here can touch the history of US space exploration. For those who are fond of space and American astronautics in particular, this is a very interesting object that allows you to touch the technologies that allowed man to land on the moon.
Tourists are attracted by a lot, including the opportunity to see American reusable spaceships. It was from here that the famous shuttles flew in due time. Excursions conducted here imply acquaintance of tourists with all stages of preparation of the ship for launch, as well as inspection from a special observation deck of the launch complex.
On the territory of the center there are specialized structures, among which there are some of the largest buildings on the planet. One of these buildings is the assembly and testing building, which is designed to accommodate 4 Saturn-V missiles. The height of this building is 160 meters, length - 218 meters, width - 158 meters, total area - 3 hectares. The huge gates of the building, consisting of 11 sections, open for almost an hour. Moreover, the height of the gate itself is 139 meters, which is 3 times higher than the famous Statue of Liberty. In addition, the gates are distinguished by a special shape, they are super wide in the ground part. This was done in order to ensure the passage of the huge transporter-installers, which are engaged in the delivery of spaceships to the launch site.
Much is arranged here today for tourists, for the sake of making a profit. On this base, NASA holds exhibitions of space technology, sightseeing tours. Tourists have access to various attractions, they can also watch scientific and educational films and documentaries on the topic of space exploration at the IMAX cinema. At the same time, even the top-secret US Air Force project to create a space unmanned vehicle should attract tourists. The blue-painted gateway to the first building for the OPF1 orbital stations is already being marketed as "home for the X37B". This is another marketing ploy: the hangar building is clearly visible from passing buses with tourists.
Spacecraft, which will be placed literally under the noses of tourists, excite the minds of experts for a long time. The true purpose of these space drones remains unclear. Experts put forward a variety of versions, up to the fact that the X37B could be "mother ships" of future star wars or interceptor ships. Free space for their accommodation appeared at NASA after the shuttle program was phased out, and the space agency switched to the development of new cargo shuttles like the manned Orion spacecraft. After that, two areas intended for shuttles were empty.
The modernization of the hangars and the surrounding technical structures will be completed by the end of 2014. Currently, testing has already been carried out on the runway on which the shuttles landed. This runway was found to be fully usable for the relatively small X-37B space drones.
So far, very little information is available about Boeing's orbital drones. The program is already called one of the most secret projects of the Pentagon. The US military themselves are convincing the world community that the main purpose of the mysterious spacecraft is to test technologies that can be used in the future to create reusable spacecraft, and their full automation is explained by the desire not to endanger the lives of pilots.
Work on the creation of unmanned spacecraft began back in 1999, when the Boeing aircraft corporation won a tender for the design and creation of a new orbital ship. Over the course of 4 years, about $ 200 million was spent on the project. Boeing was able to receive another $ 300 million under a new contract in 2002. And two years later, the project was transferred to the innovative wing of the Pentagon - the defense research agency DARPA. From that moment on, the project was awarded the highest degree of secrecy.
The real tasks of the X-37B spacecraft are unknown, but over the years of the existence of this program, experts have put forward a large number of versions of their use. The spacecraft is 9 meters long with 4.5 meter wings and has a small cargo bay and is able to lift about a ton of weight into orbit. For example, it can be used to launch various dual-purpose satellites or elements of space weapons systems into orbit. There is a possibility that the drone itself may carry weapons on board. According to some rumors, the spacecraft can be used both for reconnaissance and for carrying out attacks on enemy satellites and spaceships and even ground objects, notes the specialized publication Defense News.
Experts from Russia agree with the opinion that the unmanned spacecraft is being created as a combat drone. The head of the Institute of Space Policy, Ivan Moiseev, believes that the apparatus is purely military, and the Americans keep its purpose secret. The extraordinary secrecy of this project in an interview with "Russian Planet" was confirmed by Alexander Zheleznyakov, academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics. Tsiolkovsky. It is unlikely that the device will be used to attack targets on the Earth's surface, but it may well become a successful embodiment of a space interceptor project that will be able to stop and inspect objects located in Earth's orbit, and, if necessary, destroy them. This version is put forward by Alexander Shirokorad from "Independent Military Review", who gave the device the definition of "reusable aerospace corsair."
However, according to Ivan Moiseev, the X-37B is still not an interceptor ship, but a "mother ship for small satellites." The expert believes that in the event of a local conflict, an unmanned spacecraft will be able to launch a number of small satellites into Earth's orbit, which will provide the military with the necessary data, information and communications.
At the moment, this device has ascended into Earth's orbit three times - in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Moreover, each flight of the spacecraft was longer than the previous one. And the X-37B, which was launched in 2012, still remains in Earth orbit. The details of each of these missions were not disclosed. However, during the second flight, there was information in the press that the device was working on collecting intelligence information.
It was reported that the spacecraft could use a sophisticated sensor system to track the first orbital station in the history of the People's Republic of China - the Tiangong-1 spacecraft. This was written by David Baker, the author of the specialized magazine Spaceflight. According to Baker, the proliferation of various space tracking systems should benefit both the United States and China - countries will be able to conclude more beneficial agreements with each other thanks to knowing the secrets of the other side. At the same time, the version of journalist Baker is not confirmed either in Washington or in Beijing, and other experts also do not support it.
According to Ivan Moiseev, developments similar to the American project X-37B are not yet produced in the Russian Federation. The X-37B space drone is a winged vehicle that has additional maneuvering capabilities, while being quite compact. There were similar developments in the country when work was underway on the Buran project, but now all this has been forgotten. The expert summed up that if something like this exists in the Russian Federation, it is only on paper.
It is worth noting that the United States wanted to create the first ever combat spacecraft back in the 1960s. The project was also created by Boeing and became known as the X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soaring). To some extent, it could become a prototype for the X-37B. Then the US government spent $ 660 million on the project, in terms of today's exchange rate - more than $ 5 billion. However, that project was never completed. The insufficient technological level of those years and the high cost of the project were the main reasons for its closure. According to the plans of its creators, the tasks of this military spacecraft included the destruction of satellites, conducting reconnaissance and even bombing enemy troops.
In the future, the development of military cosmonautics was hampered by the existing bilateral agreements between the USSR and the USA, which limited the proliferation of strategic weapons, including in space. The Outer Space Treaty, which later became the basis of space law and was signed by Moscow in 1967, states that the deployment of any weapons of mass destruction in the Earth's orbit, on the Moon, a space station or other celestial body is prohibited.
At the same time, the treaty does not prohibit work on the creation of space weapons, as well as the launch of other, less destructive weapons into earth orbit. In 2008, Russia and the PRC at the conference on disarmament, which took place in Geneva, introduced a joint draft "Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Use of Force or Threat of Force against Space Objects." In June 2014, a new version of this document appeared, as reported by the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to the ministry, most countries in the world are ready to sign the agreement, but its discussion is being delayed for bureaucratic reasons.
