IronRain
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The OTV-5 mission is the first flight of the X-37B to launch on a Falcon 9 rocket after the first four flights of the program lifted off on Atlas V rockets. X-37B made its debut in April 2010 on a shakedown mission lasting 224 days and ending with the first autonomous runway landing by an American orbital vehicle. The second flight of the X-37B already surpassed the 270-day design requirement for mission duration and lasted 468 days in 2011/12. The 674-day OTV-3 mission was the second flight of the first X-37B craft after undergoing refurbishment and OTV-4 marked the second deployment of the second production vehicle, launching in May 2015 and staying in orbit for 718 days, bringing the program’s total to 2,085 days off the planet.
As with the previous X-37B flights, only very few details on the OTV-5 mission are being shared with the public and most of what resides in the vehicle’s 2.1 by 1.2-meter payload bay will remain secret. According to the U.S. Air Force, the OTV-5 mission carries small satellite ride shares and one of the experiments facilitated in the payload bay is the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader II payload of the Air Force Research Laboratory that sets out to test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipe technology over an extended period in a flight-like environment. Other experiments aboard the craft are space technology demonstrators and host platforms for experimental payloads.
The Air Force also shared that the OTV-5 mission will be targeting a higher orbital inclination than its predecessors to “further expand the X-37B’s orbital envelope.” The previous four missions flew at inclinations between 38 and 43.5 degrees with widely varying altitudes including rather large orbital changes during individual missions.
No target orbit altitude for the OTV-5 mission will be published prior to launch and it will be up to the amateur satellite tracking community to spot the vehicle in its classified orbit and keep track of any orbital maneuvering over the course of the mission.
It was only announced in June that the X-37B OTV-5 mission would be flying on a SpaceX rocket when Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson revealed the previously unannounced launch contract during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. The primary reason behind the switch from the Atlas V is to have two proven launch vehicles for the X-37B to ensure the vehicle can fly whenever needed, even if one of its launch providers encountered trouble such as extended stand-downs in launch operations. The contract is also the result of an effort by the Air Force to grow the capabilities of the commercial space industry.
Sources:
http://spaceflight101.com/falcon-9-completes-static-fire-for-otv-5/
As with the previous X-37B flights, only very few details on the OTV-5 mission are being shared with the public and most of what resides in the vehicle’s 2.1 by 1.2-meter payload bay will remain secret. According to the U.S. Air Force, the OTV-5 mission carries small satellite ride shares and one of the experiments facilitated in the payload bay is the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader II payload of the Air Force Research Laboratory that sets out to test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipe technology over an extended period in a flight-like environment. Other experiments aboard the craft are space technology demonstrators and host platforms for experimental payloads.
The Air Force also shared that the OTV-5 mission will be targeting a higher orbital inclination than its predecessors to “further expand the X-37B’s orbital envelope.” The previous four missions flew at inclinations between 38 and 43.5 degrees with widely varying altitudes including rather large orbital changes during individual missions.
No target orbit altitude for the OTV-5 mission will be published prior to launch and it will be up to the amateur satellite tracking community to spot the vehicle in its classified orbit and keep track of any orbital maneuvering over the course of the mission.
It was only announced in June that the X-37B OTV-5 mission would be flying on a SpaceX rocket when Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson revealed the previously unannounced launch contract during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. The primary reason behind the switch from the Atlas V is to have two proven launch vehicles for the X-37B to ensure the vehicle can fly whenever needed, even if one of its launch providers encountered trouble such as extended stand-downs in launch operations. The contract is also the result of an effort by the Air Force to grow the capabilities of the commercial space industry.
Sources:
http://spaceflight101.com/falcon-9-completes-static-fire-for-otv-5/
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