Outer space

 

Could the Air Force X-37B become a laser and missile-firing space drone?

Is the Air Force X-37B an armed space drone operating beyond the Earth’s atmosphere to destroy enemy satellites, ICBMs or aircraft of some kind? Is it a mobile surveillance platform intended to apply the latest sensor technologies to track enemy missiles, planes and satellites? Is it being developed as a moving networking platform or “atmospheric node” to connect satellites with one another, relay time-sensitive radar warning data,or send information to weapons assets within the Earth’s atmosphere?

Just what is the mission intent and concept of operation for the U.S. Space Force’s experimental X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) drone? Such questions emerge as the Boeing-built space drone enters new phases of technological maturity and nears operational status. The X-37B is the first vehicle since NASA’s Shuttle Orbiter with an ability to return experiments to Earth for further inspection and analysis.

“Upon command from the ground, the OTV autonomously reenters the atmosphere, descends and lands horizontally on a runway,” according to an Air Force statement.

The emergence of technology of this kind raises the possibility that, at some point in the future, a laser and missile-armed autonomous drone could launch attacks in space. Laser technology is fast advancing and fighter-jet fired lasers are expected to arrive within the next few years, given advances in technology. Smaller form-factor, high-power applications of expeditionary, integrateable laser weapons are fast emerging as weapons to arm smaller, maneuverable fighter jets, the kind of progress highly conducive to arming a space drone.