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The boring answer would be that it's just sharing the ride with a bunch of other satellites, as it did on the last three occasions. The fun answer would be tha

by T-A 3y ago

The boring answer would be that it's just sharing the ride with a bunch of other satellites, as it did on the last three occasions. The fun answer would be that it's going way further than ever before. A Falcon Heavy can take 25 metric tons to GEO, and the X-37B is roughly 1/5 of that, so think a lot higher. What is there of interest to the US Space Force beyond GEO? Well... https://spaceforcejournal.org/3859-2/ https://spaceforcejournal.org/3859-2/ https://spacenews.com/space-force-studying-requirements-for-cislunar-space-domain-awareness/ https://spacenews.com/space-force-studying-requirements-for-... https://breakingdefense.com/2022/11/critically-important-new-white-house-strategy-for-cislunar-research-echoes-space-force/ https://breakingdefense.com/2022/11/critically-important-new... Edit: Falcon Heavy, not 9. Thanks, asadotzler.

lamontcg 3y ago
Yeah as others have pointed out, it probably wouldn't be possible to hide a TLI mission, so they'd probably be upfront about the mission instead, but this is fun enough science-fiction to think about that it is my headcanon now.
ls612 3y ago
Falcon heavy can't even take that much to GEO, only to GTO. But still, while it could have the fuel to send the X-37B into TLI it would not be possible to hide this. So they wouldn't lie about it.
- T-A 3y ago
  Who says they are lying about it? From the article: So far, Space Force has only stated that the mission will "expand the United States Space Force's knowledge of the space environment by experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies," according to the statement.
asadotzler 3y ago
An F9 cannot take 25 t to GEO. F9 does just under 23 t to LEO. To GEO it's about 8 t expended or 5 and a half tonnes with a droneship recovery.
- T-A 3y ago
  Thanks, fixed. I meant Falcon Heavy. And it's actually a little more than that to GTO, but then the thing has to get itself into GEO, so it's not all payload: Falcon Heavy has the second highest lift capability of any operational rocket, with a payload of 63,800 kg (140,700 lb) to low Earth orbit, 26,700 kg (58,900 lb) to Geostationary Transfer Orbit, and 16,800 kg (37,000 lb) to trans-Mars injection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy#Design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy#Design

by T-A 3y ago

lamontcg 3y ago

Yeah as others have pointed out, it probably wouldn't be possible to hide a TLI mission, so they'd probably be upfront about the mission instead, but this is fun enough science-fiction to think about that it is my headcanon now.

ls612 3y ago

Falcon heavy can't even take that much to GEO, only to GTO. But still, while it could have the fuel to send the X-37B into TLI it would not be possible to hide this. So they wouldn't lie about it.

T-A 3y ago
Who says they are lying about it? From the article: So far, Space Force has only stated that the mission will "expand the United States Space Force's knowledge of the space environment by experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies," according to the statement.

asadotzler 3y ago

An F9 cannot take 25 t to GEO. F9 does just under 23 t to LEO. To GEO it's about 8 t expended or 5 and a half tonnes with a droneship recovery.

T-A 3y ago
Thanks, fixed. I meant Falcon Heavy. And it's actually a little more than that to GTO, but then the thing has to get itself into GEO, so it's not all payload: Falcon Heavy has the second highest lift capability of any operational rocket, with a payload of 63,800 kg (140,700 lb) to low Earth orbit, 26,700 kg (58,900 lb) to Geostationary Transfer Orbit, and 16,800 kg (37,000 lb) to trans-Mars injection. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy#Design https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falcon_Heavy#Design