"X-37B": Secret space drone of the Air Force after a record flight back on Earth

Just before four o'clock on a Sunday morning you do not have to worry about too many unwanted spectators. The responsible of the US Air Force should have been quite right. Finally, the military seeks secrecy when it comes to its unmanned spacecraft "X-37B", which is set up again on the runway of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida over the weekend after a record stay in space.

It was the spacecraft's fifth overall flight, which looks like a small version of the now retired American Space Shuttle: nine meters long is the "X-37B" and five tons heavy. It has a wingspan of four and a half meters.

None of the previous missions took longer than the current one: 780 days at a time was the "X-37B" in space, so more than two years. Such long periods of time are possible because the device draws its energy via gallium arsenide solar panels.

A total of 2865 days in space

The "X-37B" was built by Boeing, there are at least two copies. Together, they have spent a total of 2865 days in space since 2010. The unit price of the devices is secret, the speech is of one billion dollars. The launch takes place with a rocket, most recently with the "Falcon 9" of SpaceX. The "X-37B" can then land like an airplane or once the space shuttles on a concrete runway - fully automatic.

AP / Vandenberg Air Force Base

This infrared image was taken after a landing of the "X37-B" in 2012. The wings and nose have become particularly hot.

"The 'X-37B' continues to show the importance of a reusable spacecraft," said Barbara Barrett, Air Force Secretary of State for the administration of President Donald Trump, after the landing. "Every mission brings the capabilities of our country forward in space."

The problem: The public hardly knows what these skills really are. As little as the landing was announced in advance, the Air Force reports in detail on the experiments that are carried out with the shuttle. Before the launch in September 2017, there was a general talk of testing space technologies, such as efficient heat exchangers.

It was also said that small satellites should be suspended. However, there is no information about it, entries in corresponding international databases has not been made by the US military. This is usually the case even with otherwise secret satellite missions.

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Time and again it has been speculated that the "X-37B" could also have weapons on board. The US military has always denied this - also because that would be a violation of the space contract of 1967. It is conceivable and permissible under the rules of the contract, however, that the mini-shuttle was and is used for espionage purposes.

As secretive as the Air Force wishes, the missions of "X-37B" are not always the same. So the Dutch amateur astronomer Ralf Vandebergh had the vehicle in the summer located in the sky and photographed.

The # OTV5 / # X37B space plane photographed in orbit! Finally an image showing this mini-space shuttle which is only a fraction in size of the real shuttle. https://t.co/r7zqATUpN4 @SPACEdotcom @ planet4589 @Marco_Langbroek @Astroguyz @govertschilling @ phi48 @star_space pic.twitter.com/a5RvgnHPFB

And at the landing on Sunday, at least a nasty noise spooked the Kennedy Space Center's surroundings: it was the sonic boom of the slowing spacecraft.

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China, as it was read last year, is now working on a similar project. However, this aircraft should not launch with a rocket, but be brought by a carrier aircraft in the higher layers of the atmosphere, there to ignite its engines. The flight is scheduled for 2030. The next mission of the US Mini Shuttle will probably take place much earlier - with a launch date already next year.