What Does DARPA's Secret Space Plane Actually Do? | Unveiled

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What Does DARPA’s Secret Space Plane Actually Do?</h4>

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s… wait a minute, actually, yes. It is a plane. But, other than that, it’s shrouded in all kinds of secrecy, mystery and intrigue. It may well be one of America’s most sophisticated and advanced pieces of technology, but what exactly is its purpose?

This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; what does DARPA’s secret space plane actually do?

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (or DARPA) is a specialist branch of the US Department of Defense, responsible for developing new and cutting edge technologies for military use. All of America’s armed forces stand to benefit from DARPA, and have done so over the years, although in recent decades there has been a growing link between it and the final frontier of space, in particular.

The X-37B (otherwise known as the OTV Orbital Test Vehicle or, colloquially, the spaceplane) is a flagship, reusable, uncrewed vehicle for the US Space Force. It takes off vertically and lands horizontally, and seemingly has room enough to carry a lot of stuff into space. It actually began life, though, back in 1999, at a time when NASA was in control. Since then, its development and use has changed hands and expanded, so that today it has become a record-setting piece of equipment capable of carrying out variously unique and difficult missions. Built by Boeing and with a design partly inspired by the Space Shuttle Program, DARPA took over the running of it in 2004 - and since then, it has been a highly classified project.

What we do know, though, is that the X-37B has run at least six major missions. Its first flight (OTV-1) came in 2010, when it spent 224 days in orbit between April and December of that year. Subsequent missions launched in 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 all achieved higher and higher mission durations. The sixth flight (OTV-6) spent the longest time of all in space, achieving 908 days and 21 hours before it was brought back to Earth on November 12th 2022. That’s almost exactly two-and-a-half years. So, what’s it up to?

From NASA to the US Air Force to DARPA itself, all involved have been consistently vague on the details. Despite the missions breaking records, the launches of them never receive the same fanfare or coverage as most other space events do; such as the launch of NASA’s Artemis One, or of any of the many Mars rovers. The X-37B’s first mission (in 2010) was primarily a test run of the major parts… but, since then, more and more has been added on. Chief among the rumored (and sometimes confirmed) key tasks are the testing of various materials in outer space… and the delivery (and possible collection) of various satellites. 

This ship provides America with a perfect base, then, from which to investigate the effects of long periods in space. It’s speculated that some of the “materials” being sent up are highly experimental, with an eye toward one day using them to build the best and most efficient spaceships of the future. With the reported satellites on board, one of the key goals appears to be to test next generation propulsion methods. For example, the X-37B’s sixth flight (launched in 2020) carried and distributed the FalconSAT-8 which, among other things, was used to test a Magnetic Gradient Electrostatic Plasma Thruster - a propulsion design aiming to take us further into space than ever before. Meanwhile, the fourth mission, OTV-4, launched in 2015, ran tests on a specific type of ion thruster called a Hall thruster.

In recent times, speculation has grown as to what DARPA’s true endgame could be. At first, it was thought by some that the X-37B itself could be a spy machine. Given that it does have alleged ways of avoiding detection - potentially including being able to alter its orbit at speed - this idea does make a lot of sense. As such, there have been various claims made that America is using the X-37B to monitor China especially… although all official sources deny this. It’s also been suggested before that there have been some satellites delivered by the X-37B off the record. That the spaceplane is being used to discreetly add unregistered machines into Earth’s orbit… although, again, these suggestions have been quashed by official lines. What do you think it could be being used for? Let us know your theories in the comments!

Today there are two X-37Bs in operation, with each running three of the six missions so far. Combined, up to and including OTV-6, they have spent more than ten years in space, providing the US with an unprecedented opportunity to get to know the environment, and in relative safety. Of course, as the missions are uncrewed, there’s a far lower risk involved. In terms of duration, some stays on the International Space Station can rival the numbers achieved by the spaceplane… but, with astronaut welfare front and center, the ISS runs with a wholly different focus. By contrast, the X-37B offers something different. While the precise methods and results of the many tests carried out on it are still classified, it could be that some would’ve been dangerous were there a human being present. It might be that some, then, could never be carried out on the ISS, despite being routine on the X-37B. While there have been no signs so far that anything major has gone wrong on any of the spaceplane missions… if anything were to happen, then the incident (in terms of damage and information) would be contained.

For such a major initiative, the US has had a great deal of success in keeping this mostly under wraps. Essentially, since 2010, we know that for ten of the last thirteen years (at least) there has been an X-37B quietly cutting through the atmosphere above, hosting secret experiments and testing new-age products, with most of us remaining entirely none the wiser. In the satellite age, it’s somewhat faded into the background… despite potentially being one of the more significant space missions of modern times. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, though. DARPA, by nature, is a dab hand at this kind of thing, with a history of unknown operations - some yielding better results than others. In the 1970s, it quietly developed ARPANET, an early forerunner to the internet. For decades, it has been funding research into BCI Brain Computer Interfaces, to potentially allow for silent communication links, especially within the military. And it runs a semi-regular “Grand Challenge” competition for autonomous vehicle designs. Some reported DARPA ventures are a little more terrifying and disturbing, though… including its development of MAHEM (a future weapon that would use molten metal to literally dissolve enemy targets) and its one time “Insect Allies” program (which critics claimed could be used to spread genetically modified viruses as a means of biological warfare).

For now, DARPA remains an ultra-covert arm of the US authorities. A cloaked and private agency… but it’s also an organization type and a model that some other countries allegedly implement, too, including Russia, China and the UK. For better or worse, nations are always striving to stay one step ahead of their rivals, and DARPA is America’s source of literally secret weapons. In the case of the X-37B, it appears (on the face of it) as though physical weapons aren’t its primary objective. But, even so, the scope it might have to gather information is huge. It likely has the capability to surveil literally the entire planet, and maybe even to turn its attention further out into space than anyone else is looking. While the likes of NASA and the Space Force generally take most of the headlines… It's DARPA that’s at work behind the scenes, feeding the frontline of US space activity with more and more data.

All signs are that we should expect another X-37B launch soon, although don’t expect there to be massive media attention around it. Up until now, this project has generally left Earth without particular notice and returned without much of a welcome… apparently all to ensure that it can continue along a hazy trajectory toward far-off goals that we can predict but never truly know. 

There are reports of a potentially crewed interaction in the future - the X-37C - so keep your eyes peeled. When that gets off the ground, it’s hard to imagine that the rest of the world won’t be watching… but until then, that’s what DARPA’s secret space plane actually does.