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The Air Force version was designated the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV). The OTV program was built on earlier industry and government efforts by DARPA, NASA, and the Air Force under the leadership of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office in partnership with NASA and the Air Force Research Laboratory. Boeing was the prime contractor for the ...
The Air Force expected to use the Space Shuttle to launch large satellites, and required it to be capable of lifting 29,000 kg (65,000 lb) to an eastward LEO or 18,000 kg (40,000 lb) into a polar orbit. The satellite designs also required that the Space Shuttle have a 4.6 by 18 m (15 by 60 ft) payload bay.
The Kennedy Space Center served as the landing site for 78 missions, while 54 missions landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California and one mission landed at White Sands, New Mexico. [ 5 ] The first orbiter built, Enterprise , was used for atmospheric flight tests (ALT) but future plans to upgrade it to orbital capability were ultimately ...
A month before launch, the Air Force announced that the mission would fly an X-37B spaceplane. [6] OTV-7 was deployed into a highly elliptical HEO orbit of 323 km (201 mi) x 38,838 km (24,133 mi) x 59.1° orbit. [6] [16] In Oct 2024, OTV-7 was due to undertake aerobraking maneuvers to safely dispose of its service module. [17]
The following chart shows the number of launch systems developed in each country, and broken down by operational status. Rocket variants are not distinguished; i.e., the Atlas V series is only counted once for all its configurations 401–431, 501–551, 552, and N22.
All sites have runways of sufficient length to support the landing of a Space Shuttle, and included personnel from NASA as well as equipment to aid a space shuttle landing. [12] Zaragoza Air Base features Runway 30L with a length of 12,109 ft (3,691 m); [13] Morón Air Base features an 11,800 ft (3,600 m) runway; [14] and Istres Air Base ...
Space Shuttle Atlantis takes flight on the STS-27 mission on December 2, 1988. The Shuttle took about 8.5 minutes to accelerate to a speed of over 27,000 km/h (17000 mph) and achieve orbit. A drag chute is deployed by Endeavour as it completes a mission of almost 17 days in space on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California ...
Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ferry flights generally originated at Edwards Air Force Base in California or on one occasion White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico following missions which landed there, especially in the early days of the Space Shuttle program or when weather at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) at Kennedy Space Center prevented ...