Latest news with #X-37
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - War in space — the China challenge
Border security is national security, but America's borders are more expansive than the Rio Grande, ocean coasts or the frontier with Canada. In today's world, protecting our borders demands that we fully secure American interests in space. Achieving that goal demands investments to build a balanced Space Force capable of deterring aggressors and, if necessary, defeating them. Whether they realize it or not, every American has a stake in how the Space Force performs and succeeds. Our nation's prosperity depends on assured use of space. Financial transactions, critical utilities like water and power, the navigation built into phones, broadband internet on the go, and many more key facets of daily life depend on satellites. Nor can our nation be safe and secure without fail-safe access to space and the freedom to operate there. U.S. and allied militaries rely on space for communications, remote sensing, early detection of missile launches, weapons guidance and more. Space is the ultimate high ground and the stakes are immense. Today's U.S. Space Force was initially designed and resourced to 'protect and defend' these critical space capabilities. In the five years since activation, America's Space Force has delivered resilient satellite constellations that are hardened against attack, employed cutting edge technology from our defense industrial base like the X-37 spaceplane, and made prudent investments to avoid surprise from our adversaries. Those investments are paying off, but the Chinese Communist Party is already adapting. The threat they pose is real. I watch outer space for a living. My job with the U.S. Space Force is to ensure we avoid surprise, and that work is only getting harder as space becomes more crowded and adversarial. Today, space is a war fighting domain because our adversaries have made it so. China's leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made space a priority and his Chinese PLA aerospace force is actively conducting 'confrontational training' that sends an unmistakable signal. Last year, for example, China's military practiced advanced tactical maneuvers that brought their satellites within a few meters of other Chinese satellites serving as targets. They repeated the maneuver with simultaneous passes on multiple targets. In 2021, the SJ-21 'orbital debris removal' vehicle grappled a defunct non-cooperative Chinese satellite and dragged it to a graveyard orbit. This is exactly the kind of technology needed to attack our satellites such as those monitoring severe weather, providing persistent communications, or warning of missile launches. These close proximity operations conducted with little transparency also risk collisions in the increasingly crowded space environment. These operations demonstrate advanced orbital proficiency and are in addition to previously fielded ground-based missiles and lasers designed to attack satellites. We cannot ignore these developments for many reasons. History, for one, offers lessons. In the 1930s, Germany developed innovative blitzkrieg tactics to exploit cutting edge technologies like armored vehicles and warplanes to penetrate, overfly, and outmaneuver fixed fortifications. Imperial Japan perfected techniques to launch lightning carrier raids across the Pacific. Today we are watching the PLA develop the skills needed for offensive operations in the space domain. America's assured use of space is at risk unless we evolve from a reactive 'protect and defend' posture to instead build a Space Force capable of maneuvering and fighting in space. Border fences may slow down an aggressor, but history shows that defenders need their own maneuver forces to deter attack in the first place, counterattack, and if necessary, take the fight to the enemy. Peace through strength matters on Earth, and it also matters in space. The U.S. and especially the Space Force must meet this challenge — it's about deterrence. Just like our capabilities in the air, land, and sea, a strong presence in space discourages adversaries from attacking in the first place. We must protect our frontier in space with the same diligence and determination that we are directing to borders closer to home. This requires investment in a balanced Space Force capable of a full range of operations. Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon is the Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Intelligence and serves as the Senior Intelligence Officer for the U.S. Space Force. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
28-03-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
War in space — the China challenge
Border security is national security, but America's borders are more expansive than the Rio Grande, ocean coasts or the frontier with Canada. In today's world, protecting our borders demands that we fully secure American interests in space. Achieving that goal demands investments to build a balanced Space Force capable of deterring aggressors and, if necessary, defeating them. Whether they realize it or not, every American has a stake in how the Space Force performs and succeeds. Our nation's prosperity depends on assured use of space. Financial transactions, critical utilities like water and power, the navigation built into phones, broadband internet on the go, and many more key facets of daily life depend on satellites. Nor can our nation be safe and secure without fail-safe access to space and the freedom to operate there. U.S. and allied militaries rely on space for communications, remote sensing, early detection of missile launches, weapons guidance and more. Space is the ultimate high ground and the stakes are immense. Today's U.S. Space Force was initially designed and resourced to 'protect and defend' these critical space capabilities. In the five years since activation, America's Space Force has delivered resilient satellite constellations that are hardened against attack, employed cutting edge technology from our defense industrial base like the X-37 spaceplane, and made prudent investments to avoid surprise from our adversaries. Those investments are paying off, but the Chinese Communist Party is already adapting. The threat they pose is real. I watch outer space for a living. My job with the U.S. Space Force is to ensure we avoid surprise, and that work is only getting harder as space becomes more crowded and adversarial. Today, space is a war fighting domain because our adversaries have made it so. China's leader, General Secretary Xi Jinping has made space a priority and his Chinese PLA aerospace force is actively conducting 'confrontational training' that sends an unmistakable signal. Last year, for example, China's military practiced advanced tactical maneuvers that brought their satellites within a few meters of other Chinese satellites serving as targets. They repeated the maneuver with simultaneous passes on multiple targets. In 2021, the SJ-21 'orbital debris removal' vehicle grappled a defunct non-cooperative Chinese satellite and dragged it to a graveyard orbit. This is exactly the kind of technology needed to attack our satellites such as those monitoring severe weather, providing persistent communications, or warning of missile launches. These close proximity operations conducted with little transparency also risk collisions in the increasingly crowded space environment. These operations demonstrate advanced orbital proficiency and are in addition to previously fielded ground-based missiles and lasers designed to attack satellites. We cannot ignore these developments for many reasons. History, for one, offers lessons. In the 1930s, Germany developed innovative blitzkrieg tactics to exploit cutting edge technologies like armored vehicles and warplanes to penetrate, overfly, and outmaneuver fixed fortifications. Imperial Japan perfected techniques to launch lightning carrier raids across the Pacific. Today we are watching the PLA develop the skills needed for offensive operations in the space domain. America's assured use of space is at risk unless we evolve from a reactive 'protect and defend' posture to instead build a Space Force capable of maneuvering and fighting in space. Border fences may slow down an aggressor, but history shows that defenders need their own maneuver forces to deter attack in the first place, counterattack, and if necessary, take the fight to the enemy. Peace through strength matters on Earth, and it also matters in space. The U.S. and especially the Space Force must meet this challenge — it's about deterrence. Just like our capabilities in the air, land, and sea, a strong presence in space discourages adversaries from attacking in the first place. We must protect our frontier in space with the same diligence and determination that we are directing to borders closer to home. This requires investment in a balanced Space Force capable of a full range of operations.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Secretive X-37B space plane shares first images from orbit; see photos
The US Space Force's secret space plane, the X-37B, shared an image from orbit for the first time. The reusable orbital test vehicle captured the image of Earth last year during its seventh mission. In orbit since 2023, the test shuttle has practiced maneuvers to change orbit. The US Space Force released an image Thursday that was taken by its top-secret space plane for the first time since launching on its seventh mission in late 2023. While conducting experiments in a "highly elliptical orbit," the X-37B orbital test vehicle captured a rare image of Earth from high above the African continent. Since launching on its seventh mission in late 2023, the orbital test vehicle has been experimenting with future space domain technologies and practicing "first-of-its-kind" maneuvers to adjust its position in orbit with minimal fuel, according to the US Space Force. Little is known about the X-37B's missions, which have taken place as concerns grow that the US military's satellite network is under increasing threat. 'Most advanced re-entry spacecraft' In 1999, NASA selected Boeing to design a reusable orbital test vehicle to monitor and repair satellites closely. Over the next four years, the X-37 underwent several design iterations to achieve a more aerodynamic design than the Space Shuttle orbiter. It was initially intended to launch from the cargo bay of a space shuttle. But after the Space Shuttle Columbia crashed and killed all seven astronauts on board in 2003, it was redesigned to launch from a different rocket, making it smaller and more autonomous. The project cost nearly $192 million, and Boeing was awarded another $301 million contract in 2002 through the Space Launch Initiative, a joint research effort led by NASA and the Defense Department. The X-37 project was transferred to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in 2004 and became classified because of its military applications. In 2006, the Air Force announced the development of its own variant of the space plane, known as the X-37B, designed to operate with an orbital speed of nearly 17,500 mph for up to 270 days. The uncrewed test vehicle was nearly 30 feet long and had a wingspan of about 15 feet. Its max takeoff weight was 11,000 pounds, and it could accommodate payloads of up to 500 pounds. Dubbed the "most advanced re-entry spacecraft," the X-37B program would focus on "risk reduction, experimentation, and operational concept development for reusable space vehicle technologies, in support of long-term developmental space objectives," then-Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said in 2006. Experimenting in space The X-37B was tasked with multiple orbital missions, ranging from testing materials under the conditions of space to releasing a small satellite with its own experimental payloads. The first X-37B vehicle was launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral in April 2010. The test vehicle spent 225 days in space and returned in December 2010 after conducting several orbit changes, though the data it collected during its maiden mission was classified. In 2020, the X-37B's sixth mission involved toting a small service module into space for the first time. The FalconSat-8 was a small satellite developed by the US Air Force Academy carrying five experimental payloads. After a record-breaking 908 days in space, the X-37B completed its mission and landed at the Kennedy Space Center in November 2022. Because much of the X-37B program is classified, the secrecy fueled speculation about the purpose of its mission sets, with some speculating that the space plane could be a weapons platform or used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance from space. Launched from a SpaceX rocket The X-37B embarked on its seventh and current mission in December 2023, launching from the Falcon Heavy rocket, manufactured and launched by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The Falcon Heavy is capable of launching payloads over 22,000 feet above Earth, so the X-37B was launched higher than any other spaceplane and flew in a highly elliptical orbit. The purpose of its seventh mission was to experiment with "future space domain awareness technologies" and analyze the radiation effects on plant seeds during spaceflight, according to the Space Force. Another key objective of the X-37B's current mission is to refine and execute novel maneuvers called aerobraking, using the drag of Earth's atmosphere to quickly shift into low orbit and safely dispose of service module components using minimal fuel. Changing orbit is a crucial capability should the spaceplane be used to upgrade US satellites or disable those of its adversaries. Shrouded in secrecy Though the image taken by its onboard camera shows just a small portion of the X-37B, few photos of the vehicle itself are available to the public. A video montage posted on X in 2023 included a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of the X-37B separating from its service module during its sixth mission in 2020. The US military and Boeing also released the first photos from the same mission after it was completed in 2022. The US' X-37B vs. China's Shenlong The X-37B is known for conducting tests and scientific experiments in space, but details about its military applications remain highly classified. Operating space-based technology for decades, including the X-37B, has given the US an edge on the new frontier of orbital warfare. China follows closely behind the US with its own spacecraft known as the Shenlong, named after a dragon god in Chinese mythology. Like the X-37B, much about the aircraft is still shrouded in mystery. The Shenlong was first announced in 2007, but China has publicly disclosed few details about the top-secret space plane program. There are no known images of the Shenlong, and among the few capabilities that are known about the unmanned vehicle is that it can deploy via a rocket, quickly maneuver in space, and deploy payloads into space, much like the X-37B. During its first orbital flight in September 2020, the Shenlong remained in space for two days to release an object into orbit before returning to Earth. Its second launch in August 2022 lasted considerably longer, operating in orbit for nine months. The Chinese spaceplane was reportedly practicing maneuvers to deploy and recover a subsatellite, operations that require similar techniques to capture an enemy satellite. In December 2023, the Shenlong's third mission, which began just seven months after the second, reportedly had a similar objective, releasing an object from its cargo hold to test proximity operations. It completed its mission after nine months in space, returning to China this past September. Read the original article on Business Insider
