The news of the launch of the X37B from the United States and its seventh orbital mission has attracted public attention.
[Previous launch screen]
The reason is simple, compared with the Chinese reusable spacecraft that is generally considered to be "Chinese-style X37B", the American X37B was launched about half a month late.
Considering the many postponements of the relevant tasks by the United States, it is very likely that it is deliberately waiting for China to launch first, and then according to some of our parameters
[X37B in fairing]
In addition, there are more technical upgrades for the launch of X37B by the United States, and we must be wary of threats from the United States!
This launch was special
There are many special features of the U.S. launch of X37B, such as the repeated postponement of this launch mission, which is obviously unreasonable.
[Americans are very ambitious]
On December 11, 2023, SpaceX postponed the launch to the 12th.
In the established target plan, the launch time of the X37B aircraft should be in early December.
On the 16th, the company said that it would launch the X37B aircraft around the 28th.
However, the United States did not give much explanation for the reasons for the repeated postponement of the launch of the X37B aircraft, but maintained its usual "mysterious style".
In the field of aerospace aircraft, the United States has always been a technological leader, and with the first six tests, they should have no problems in technology.
Among them, the first six X37B aircraft launches were almost not delayed, and the seventh X37B launch was postponed many times, which is really rare.
Interestingly, whether it is the American X37B vehicle or the Chinese and reusable spacecraft, they are all at a similar time node, and it is difficult not to make people think about it.
We have reason to suspect that the United States has repeatedly postponed the launch of the X37B vehicle, which may be to know the experimental time node of China's reusable spacecraft in advance.
Let's launch first, and then they will collect some data in orbit through satellites, and adjust the technical parameters of their X37B aircraft for China's spacecraft, so as to achieve the purpose of-for-tat with China.
So, what changes has the United States made about China's reusable spacecraft?
Judging from the situation of this launch, in addition to the multiple delayed launches, the biggest change is these two points.
The first flight to high orbit
According to the U.S. military, the X37B vehicle will perform a "breakthrough test" of the first high-orbit mission.
The high orbit here is specific and revealed, but according to the relevant standards, the altitude of the seventh mission of the X37B aircraft will not be less than 1,000 kilometers, and the maximum can reach 30,000 kilometers.
The rocket carrying the X37B vehicle is the "Falcon Heavy" of the American company SpaceX, which has a maximum load of about 64 tons and can transport about 26.7 tons of objects to geosynchronous orbit.
Generally speaking, the altitude of the geosynchronous orbit is about 35,000 kilometers, beyond which it is easy to break away from the earth's gravity.
The Falcon Heavy rocket is fully capable of sending an X37B aircraft weighing only 4 tons to an altitude of 30,000 kilometers.
What is the United States doing with the X-37B aircraft at such a high altitude? According to them, it is to conduct extensive testing and experiments on such vehicles in order to enhance the knowledge of space combat capabilities.
These are all more official clichés, and there is nothing "nutritious" to come up with.
In fact, we can judge from the experimental progress of the United States that they should be eager to advance their research in the field of reusable spacecraft, so as to maintain their leading position in related fields.
Because of the rapid progress of China's reusable spacecraft and the high level of secrecy of our work in related fields, the United States is full of suspicion of China.
The United States, which is afraid of China's lead, has to carry out the next test to ensure its own voice in the field.
Objectively speaking,
The X37B aircraft is a big threat
Such high-orbit satellites have many advantages, such as being in orbit and reducing the risk of being "touched" by garbage because there is less space junk.
You must know that the threat of space junk to satellites is very large, a piece of space junk of only 2 grams, in the case of high-speed driving, is enough to crash a small and medium-sized satellite.
For example, high-orbit satellites can rely heavily on the Earth's rotational gravity, thereby reducing their own energy consumption.
As the saying goes, "stand high and see far", and the reconnaissance capability of high-orbit satellites is also very good, and they have great military and civilian value.
For example, the remote sensing satellite No. 41 launched by the mainland is a high-orbit agricultural satellite
The X37B vehicle launched by the United States will be able to use our satellite as an experimental object and obtain more valuable data.
Be alert to threats
In addition, the X37B aircraft has also deliberately added an additional service cabin, which is similar to the additional electronic warfare pod of the fighter, expanding the storage and transportation capacity of the aircraft.
There are also three conjectures about the service module of the X37B aircraft, the first and most important point is that it may be a weapons compartment, which can carry a small number of space weapons to strike at high-orbit satellites.
If this is the case, then the American X37B vehicle will form an initial threat capability to space satellites in the short term.
The second point may be the perception technology module of the X37B aircraft, which is mainly to collect the data performance and flight environment of some aircraft in high-orbit satellites.
Although there is already a perception technology module in the original cabin, considering the particularity of this high-orbit test, the installation of a module also provides an additional data guarantee.
The third point is the special function module, for example, to test the aerial refueling ability of the X37B aircraft in space, etc., for more technical verification.
All in all, the United States is still leading in the field of aerospace aircraft research, and although it has not yet reached the level of a one-hour global strike, at least there are signs of it, and we should be vigilant.
Resources:
[1] China Military Network: "What Secrets Are Hidden in the Tight-Mouthed X-37B of the United States"
[2] China Youth Daily: "The Important Influence of Air and Space Combat Aircraft in Future Wars is Self-evident"