A rendering of the X-37B, the unmanned successor to the space shuttle that began its secret debut mission last month. NASA/Boeing Phantom WorksSurveillance Is Suspected as Spacecraft’s Main Role -- New York Times
A team of amateur sky watchers has pierced the veil of secrecy surrounding the debut flight of the nation’s first robotic spaceplane, finding clues that suggest the military craft is engaged in the development of spy satellites rather than space weapons, which some experts have suspected but the Pentagon strongly denies.
Last month, the unmanned successor to the space shuttle blasted off from Florida on its debut mission but attracted little public notice because no one knew where it was going or what it was doing. The spaceship, known as the X-37B, was shrouded in operational secrecy, even as civilian specialists reported that it might go on mysterious errands for as long as nine months before zooming back to earth and touching down on a California runway.
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My Comment: You have to wonder what it can do that a regular satellite cannot. Surveillance can easily be done by a regular conventional spy satellite .... my gut tells me that there is more to this story than what is being told.