SpaceX beat out legacy government rocket contractor United Launch Alliance for the next mission of the military’s unmanned, reusable “space plane,” fitted with advanced technologies designed for extended trips outside Earth’s atmosphere.
The U.S. Air Force announced Tuesday that SpaceX will launch the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle’s fifth experimental trip to orbit in August. The contract is an indication of increased trust between the military and SpaceX, which just three years ago had to wage a legal battle to win the right to bid on government contracts.
The 15-year-old commercial company in Hawthorne forced down launch costs of legacy government aerospace contractors Boeing and Lockheed since the inaugural flight of its Falcon 9 rocket in 2010.
“The ability to launch the Orbital Test Vehicle on multiple platforms will ensure a robust launch capability for our experiment designers,” said Randy Walden, director of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. “We look forward to continued expansion of the vehicle’s performance and are excited to continue hosting experimental payloads for the space community.”
Launch site undetermined
It’s not clear whether SpaceX will launch the 11,000-pound experimental military Orbital Test Vehicle from its facilities at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Vandenberg Air Force Base in Central California.
Nicknamed “space plane,” the X-37 OTV was initiated by NASA 18 years ago and the program has since been run by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA.
Similar in shape to vehicles in the space shuttle program, the Boeing-built craft is designed to return to Earth after extended orbital research missions.
“The X-37B program is the newest and most advanced re-entry spacecraft that performs risk reduction, experimentation and concept of operations development for reusable space vehicle technologies,” according to an Air Force statement.
2,085 days in orbit
Its fourth mission returned to Florida on May 7 after spending 718 days in orbit doing experiments. In all, the space plane has spent 2,085 days outside Earth’s atmosphere since its first trip in 2010.
Among the technologies being tested on the orbiting plane are advanced guidance, navigation and control, high temperature structures and seals, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, and new re-entry and landing capabilities, according to Air Force statements.
The upcoming mission will carry the Air Force Research Laboratory Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader to test “experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipes in the long duration space environment,” according to Tuesday’s Air Force statement.
SpaceX, founded 15 years ago by billionaire Elon Musk, won the rights in 2014 to bid on military contracts after a legal battle with the government over the issue. Since then, it has been awarded several military contracts, though not all were publicly disclosed.
A May 1 classified mission for the National Reconnaissance Office delivered a spy satellite into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket.
It’s unclear how many classified military missions SpaceX has completed. The company’s launch manifest lists only one trip on behalf of the Air Force in February 2015. SpaceX officials referred the question to the Air Force, which did not immediately respond.