X-37B OTV Spaceplane Launch to Militarize Space on Earth Day
April 22, 2010 by ahrcanum
X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle also referred to as the Advanced Technology Demonstrator is set for launch tonight, April 22, 2010. It will be taken aloft by The Atlas V in the 501 vehicle configuration with a five-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 41. The planned liftoff time is 7:52 p.m. and the launch window will extend through 8:01 p.m.
The X-37B OTV is not your everyday launch. First of all, this is not a NASA program, but a U.S. government launch that is cloaked in secrecy. Shuttle Atlantis only this morning has reached its seaside perch on launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center. It is targeted for a six crew, May 14 launch to the International Space Station. http://flametrench.flatoday.net/
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with the Air Force's Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) rolls out to its Space Launch Complex-41 launch pad arriving at 11 a.m. EDT today. Photo by Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance.
The X-37 program, while originally a NASA initiative, is now led by Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office officials, which expedite development and fielding of select Defense Department combat support and weapons systems. AFRCO officials are currently working on the X-37B program, building upon early development and testing conducted by officials from NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force Research Laboratory. http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123199790Angie Blair, an Air Force spokeswoman for the project added, “that the X-37B will be operated by contractors under the direction of Air Force Space Command’s 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron.”
The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_14924089?source=rss said the launch was being done by the Centennial-based United Launch Alliance. This will be United Launch Alliance’s third launch of the year and the 21st Atlas V launch in program history. http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/.
On this AFRCO patch, “ The Latin at the bottom of the patch translates as “Doing God’s work with other people’s money.” The image is part of the http://www.naderlibrary.com/index.htm.
This patch is from the Phillips Laboratory Military Spaceplane Technology (MiST) Program Office at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. The original version of this patch featured an "X-Wing" fighter from Star Wars.
From a 1999 Report via http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/library/report/1999/99-154.htm “The Air Force must quickly develop doctrine and command relationships designed to maximize the contributions routine space access brings to the joint warfighter. Doctrinal constructs for the effective use of USAF expeditionary aerospace power will help ensure our nation maintains its lead as the preeminent aerospace power. This paper specifically uses the near-future advent of Reusable Launch Vehicles and their implications for an Expeditionary Air Force as an illustration of how future Joint Force Commanders may effectively bring aerospace power to bear in the battlespace as a combined, synergistic whole.”
Basically, 11 years later America is about to officially weaponize space, or should we say at least for the first time, admitting it.
