Key Points and Summary – The X-37B is a reusable, unmanned U.S. spaceplane used as an orbital testbed since 2010.
-Its long, classified missions and agile maneuvering fuel Chinese claims it could inspect or disable satellites, or someday support prompt-strike concepts. Washington denies weaponization, saying the craft trials tech like aerobraking, laser comms, and quantum sensors.
-China’s anxiety mirrors its own anti-satellite push—missiles, ground lasers, jammers, and a reusable Shenlong drone. Operated by Space Force Delta 9, the X-37B’s eighth flight (OTV-8) launched Aug. 21 to run new experiments.
-Russian assertions it’s a nuclear bomber are implausible given the tiny bay and high detectability.
The X-37B Spaceplane: China Thinks Weapon
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV, is an vehicle that acts as a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Space Force.
Since its first flight in 2010, the X-37B has served NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and now the U.S. Space Force. It is one of the most intriguing aircraft in the U.S. inventory. Although most analysts believe it is a space espionage vehicle, no one really knows what its mission is.
However, China is seriously worried about the X-37B and has stated that the aircraft “could be armed to ‘kill’ in orbit.”
The US Denies Weaponization, But It Is Entirely Plausible
While official sources deny any weaponization of the platform, the X-37B’s capabilities – including its maneuverability, extended orbital missions, and the classified nature of its payloads – have led to concerns among some international observers, particularly Chinese researchers, that it could be used in the future to inspect, disable, or “kill” satellites.
The X-37B is officially described as a simple testbed for technologies such as advanced sensors and reusable components. It also reportedly carries out experiments for future spacecraft and has been used to test technologies such as aerobraking, laser communications, and quantum sensors.
China’s concern isn’t that the U.S. X-37B space plane will kill satellites directly, but that its unspecified capabilities, combined with other U.S. space weapons, pose a threat to Chinese and other nations’ satellites.
The secrecy surrounding the X-37B fuels speculation it could be used for offensive actions, such as blinding satellites with lasers or intercepting them in orbit. But there is no concrete evidence of its use in such a capacity.
The Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Mission 5 successfully landed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility Oct. 27, 2019. The X-37B OTV is an experimental test program to demonstrate technologies for a reliable, reusable, unmanned space test platform for the U.S. Air Force.
China Worries About US Space Supremacy
Researchers from China’s Space Engineering University have characterized the aircraft as a “space killer.” Wang Tiantian and Feng Songjiang, from the university’s Space Security Research Center, expressed fears that the plane’s onboard systems could be used as a key component of the U.S. military’s Prompt Global Strike system in the future.
Those Chinese fears are legitimate precisely because they are accusing the U.S. of introducing capabilities China itself is developing.
China Is Building Up an Arsenal of Anti-Satellite Weapons
Audrey Decker from Defense One wrote earlier this spring that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is developing missiles and ground-based lasers to hit satellites from the ground. These systems could be deployed before the end of the decade, according to Gen. Chance Saltzman, head of U.S. Space Operations.
“Aside from missiles, the PLA has fielded multiple ground-based laser weapons able to disrupt, degrade, or damage satellite sensors. By the mid-to-late 2020s, we expect them to deploy systems high enough in power that they can physically damage satellite structures,” Saltzman said in written testimony ahead of his April appearance before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
China’s military also employs jammers that can target space-based communications, radars, and navigation systems, including the Pentagon’s extremely-high-frequency systems.
China has built a reusable robotic craft, the Shenlong, that completed a 268-day mission in space before landing in the Gobi Desert.
China’s Strategic Space Force is responsible for conducting space launches and maintaining situational awareness in space for China. The China National Space Administration and the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense are responsible for planning exploratory missions and defense operations.
All three institutions work to strengthen China’s military presence in space. Out of the more than 5,000 active satellites currently in orbit, 1,397 are Chinese satellites that carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; communications; navigation; and science and technology missions.
The PLA has defined space capabilities as a critical component of “informatized warfare” – the use of information-based systems to manage and speed up battlespace decision-making during a conflict.
US Space Force Operates the X-37B
The U.S. Space Force’s Delta 9, which is part of the 3rd Space Experimentation Squadron, operates the OTV. In early July 2022, one of the OTVs surpassed 908 days in space. The first OTV space flight lasted 224 days, but each successive flight has lasted more than a year.
The Space Force won’t confirm how many X-37Bs it has, but it is believed that the service has only two. Russia claims that the OTV is a bomber designed to deliver nuclear weapons from space, but that is unlikely, since its cargo bay is tiny. While outwardly resembling the Space Shuttle, the X-37B’s size is more akin to a pickup truck with a trailer.
No one outside the Space Force knows what it did in space for more than 900 days, but the fact that it did has kept Chinese and Russian planners awake at night.
General Characteristics of the X-37B
The X-37B in 2020 was awarded the Collier Trophy, a very prominent award in aviation, for pushing “the boundaries of flight and space exploration,” according to the U.S. Air Force, which ran the program at that time.
The X-37B undertook seven test flights, with four landings at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and three at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Primary Mission: Experimental space test vehicle
Prime Contractor: Boeing
Height: 9 feet, 6 inches (2.9 meters)
Length: 29 feet, 3 inches (8.9 meters)
Wingspan: 14 feet, 11 inches (4.5 meters)
Launch Weight: 11,000 pounds (4,990 kilograms)
Power: Gallium Arsenide Solar Cells with lithium-ion batteries’
Launch Vehicles: United Launch Alliance Atlas V (501) and SpaceX Falcon 9
Boeing outfitted the X-37B with high-temperature wing leading-edge tiles and Toughened Uni-piece Fibrous Refractory Oxidation-resistant Ceramic tiles.
Like the Space Shuttle, the X-37B takes off vertically from a launchpad and is propelled by either the Atlas V or SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets. Once in orbit, its internal power can easily run for more than 1-2 years. It can also maneuver on its own, and it eventually lands on a runway back on Earth, just like the Shuttle or a conventional aircraft.
According to Boeing, the X-37B operates at a low-earth orbit, with an altitude between 150 and 500 miles above Earth.
X-37B Takes Off On Its Eighth Mission
On Aug. 21, the Space Force launched the X-37B for its eighth mission.
Dubbed the OTV-8, the mission is expected to see the Boeing-made spacecraft conduct a wide range of tests and experiments focused on laser communication tech and quantum inertial sensors, according to Space Force officials.
“U.S. Space Force’s National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launched the USSF-36 mission into orbit Aug. 21 from historic Launch Complex (LC)-39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida,” the Space Systems Command said in a press release.
“The mission, carrying the U.S. Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) spacecraft, lifted off on schedule at 11:50 p.m. EST (8:50 p.m. PST).”
Russia and China Claim The X-37B Is a Bomber
Russia and China insist that the OTV is a bomber.
Yan Novikov, director-general of Russian defense technology company Almaz-Antey, claims last year the OTV could carry nuclear warheads.
“The official story is that these platforms were developed for scientific purposes and, well, surveillance,” Novikov said. “But we understand that having these capacities and possibilities, the smaller spacecraft can carry up to three nuclear warheads.”
Novikov further claimed the U.S. is planning on expanding the OTV fleet to eight by 2025. He also claimed the U.S. has two different types of OTVs; yet the X-37B is currently the only OTV in America’s inventory.
The X-37B Is Not Big Enough To Be a Bomber
Popular Mechanics’ Kyle Mizokami put Russia’s extravagant claims to rest. First of all, as Mizokami points out, the cargo bay of the small X-37B is about the size of a standard pickup truck bed (6.9 feet long and 3.9 feet wide).
While the subsonic Tomahawk cruise missile could conceivably carry a W-80 thermonuclear warhead, both the missile and the warhead would have to be highly modified to re-enter the earth’s atmosphere, increasing their size to the extent that the X-37B could only carry three.
With only one or two X-37Bs in existence, carrying just three nukes isn’t going to be a game-changer against Russia in any conflict marked by the threat of a nuclear exchange – but that doesn’t stop the Russians from worrying about it.
It is also worth remembering that the X-37B flies in a low-earth orbit; as it is visible to astronomers or air defense operators, it cannot deliver the element of surprise. Even if it were able to avoid detection, a sneak attack by an X-37B would hardly make a dent in Russian ballistic missile defenses. Further, the Russians have air-defense missiles that can shoot down vehicles in low-earth orbit.
Adversaries can believe what they want, but the X-37B is precisely what the U.S. Space Force says it is: a reusable spacecraft that can conduct experiments in space and then return to Earth.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications
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