Recent Video Showcases Pioneering Orbit Adjustment of Space Force's Clandestine Spacecraft
Recent Video Showcases Pioneering Orbit Adjustment of Space Force's Clandestine Spacecraft
Following seven successful space trips, Boeing has decided to discuss their mysterious military spacecraft in depth. The firm unveiled a video explaining the experimental space manipulations current being undertaken by the aircraft to change its orbit.
Boeing posted a brief, two-minute clip on their site, detailing the X-37B spacecraft conducting unusual procedures. The spacecraft is executing a "unique first-time demonstration" to decrease its altitude using atmospheric resistance, shifting from a highly elliptical orbit to a new target orbit, as explained by the company on their site.
The U.S. Space Force's spacecraft, built by Boeing, initiated a series of orbital maneuvers called aerobraking, which uses Earth's atmospheric resistance to alter orbit while consuming minimal fuel.
The X-37B was launched on December 29, 2023, ascending on a Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time. According to Boeing, the spacecraft has completed its time in the highly elliptical orbit, which forms an elongated shape with a low altitude perigee (its closest point to Earth) and a high altitude apogee (its farthest point from Earth). Now, the spacecraft is making its way to a new orbit through aerobraking.
Typically, the spacecraft would have needed to employ its thrusters for multiple engine burns to modify its orbit, consuming its propellant in the process. “When we aerobrake, we make the most of atmospheric resistance to gradually lower our apogee, one pass at a time, until we reach the desired orbital altitude,” John Ealy, an engineer from Boeing, said in the company's clip. “This conserves a vast amount of propellant, a crucial advantage of aerobraking.”
Before Boeing released the clip, there was limited information on the spacecraft's ongoing mission. The Space Force only disclosed that its vehicle would operate in new orbital configurations and carry out experiments with "space domain awareness technologies." The actual nature of these technologies is not yet known. The spacecraft is also carrying a NASA experiment for its seventh mission, intending to expose plant seeds to the extreme radiation environment of long-duration spaceflight to collect data for future crewed missions.
The first X-37B was released in April 2010, and remained in orbit for 224 days during its inaugural test flight. Since then, it has significantly evolved. The X-37B was launched in May 2020, riding an Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance for its sixth mission, and stayed in orbit for 908 days before touching down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in November 2022, breaking its previous record of 780 consecutive days in orbit.
Spacecrafts are hybrid launch vehicles, functioning in orbit like spacecrafts while retaining the ability to land like a regular airplane on the ground. China is currently testing its own spacecraft, Shenlong, which recently finished its third mission after spending 268 days in orbit. China, like the U.S., is also known for maintaining secrecy about its reusable vehicle.
The U.S. Space Force's X-37B has now been in orbit for more than ten months, with no clear indication of when the spacecraft will finish its seventh mission. The orbital maneuvers hint that the current mission might conclude a bit sooner for the spacecraft than its previous one.
The upcoming mission of the X-37B spacecraft, developed by Boeing, is expected to leverage advancements in tech and technology, focusing on utilizing aerobraking for orbital changes. This future strategy will conserve propellant, a significant advantage for prolonged space missions.
As we look to the future, Boeing is set to explore new possibilities with the X-37B, potentially paving the way for more efficient space operations using aerobraking.