Pentagon’s mysterious X-37B unmanned space drone set to launch again

The US Space Force’s mysterious X-37B unmanned drone is expected to soar into space once again, this time reaching new heights — as some speculate it may be used to search for threats from hostile nations’ satellites.

The oddly-shaped spacecraft with stubby wings and a rounded, bulldog-like nose was originally set to take off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Sunday night, but its launch was delayed as powerful storms make their way across the East Coast.

With the “vigorous” showers, high winds and cloud coverage, Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron estimated the chances of a successful launch at just 40 percent Sunday night.

By Monday night, however, the chances of success rise to 70 percent, according to Elon Musk’s SpaceX — which won the $130 million contract to launch the spacecraft in 2018. 

It is now scheduled to launch the X-37B via Falcon Heavy rocket at 8:14 p.m. Monday from the Kennedy Space Center.

“The team will use the time to complete additional pre-launch check outs,” SpaceX posted on X.

The extra time may prove handy amid speculation that the aircraft’s mission will be in higher orbit than in previous missions, as The Falcon Heavy is more powerful than the rockets that have launched the drones in the past.

“We are excited to expand the envelope of the reusable X-37B’s capabilities, using the flight-proven service module and Falcon Heavy rocket to fly multiple cutting-edge experiments for the Department of the Air Force and its partners,” Lt. Col. Joseph Fritschen, the X-37B program director said in a statement.

Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman went on to explain that the upcoming flight, dubbed OTV-7, will carry “groundbreaking” experiments that will “equip the United States with the knowledge to enhance current and future space operations.”

Among the tests the unmanned drone is expected to conduct in space are experiments “with future space domain awareness technologies,” according to the military.

Experts speculate that could imply that the X-37B will be keeping an eye on satellites launched by enemy nations, scanning beyond the skies for potential threats.

“Our space systems are threatened by a variety of growing anti-satellite capabilities, and the joint force is threatened by increasingly sophisticated adversary space-based systems intended to target the joint force,” Saltzman said in a statement to Congress earlier this year.

The flight is also expected to “expose plant seeds to the harsh radiation environment of long-duration space flight” in an experiment for NASA, the Space Force says.

The Pentagon has previously used X-37Bs to test some of its new technologies, including a small solar panel designed to transform solar energy into microwaves, which could one day allow energy harnessed from space to be beamed back to Earth, the Washington Post reports.

X-37Bs have also been used to deploy small satellites — though it remains unclear what these satellites actually did.

It’s also still unknown why the vehicle — capable of surviving in space for hundreds of days — may need to reach further into the depths of space, as the X-37B program is classified under the purview of the Space Force.

“The US government is in this weird place where they brag publicly about how amazing it is and cutting-edge, but will not provide any information about it,” Brian Weeden, the director of program planning at Secure World Foundation, told the Washington Post.

The organization noted that even the program’s budget is a mystery.

“The US military openly applauds the program for being a significant success, but does not provide any information about its on-orbit activities,” the Secure World Foundation writes in a fact sheet about the mysterious aircrafts.

“This may indicate they are part of a covert intelligence program, but it may also indicate the testing of offensive technologies or capabilities.”

That “mystique” is adding to the Boeing-produced X-37Bs’ reputation around the world, Weeden said, as the Pentagon tries to make clear it is using the unmanned ships for something very important.

But the Secure World Foundation claims the X-37Bs have “near-zero feasibility as an orbital weapons system for attacking targets on the ground” and concludes that the ships are likely being used for the purposes the Pentagon claims, including “testing reusable space launch vehicle technologies (such as guidance and thermal protection) and on-orbit testing of new sensor technologies and satellite hardware for risk reduction.”

Still, China remains skeptical about the United States’ use of these mysterious crafts — claiming the government is trying to weaponize space.

In response, China created its own secretive reusable spaceplane, the Shenlong, which has flown two missions so far.

The last one reportedly touched down in May after spending 276 days in orbit, but no photos of the Shenlong have been released publicly, according to the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, the X-37Bs have spent a total of more than 10 years in space, which the military says has allowed it to gain information about how different objects survive in space for extended durations.

“It has been a remarkable testbed and experimentation vehicle for many years,” Gen. David Thompson, Space Force’s vice chief of space operations said at a forum earlier this year.

“I would tell you, you’re only beginning to see some of the exciting things that we have planned for the X-37,” he vowed.