US X-37B spaceplane 'is spying on Chinese space station'

A TOP SECRET US spaceplane that has been orbiting the earth since last April is spying on China's new space station, Tiangong-1, an expert has claimed in the latest issue of Spaceflight magazine.

As previously reported on The Week, the X-37B spaceplane is a small robotic space shuttle which first came into development at Nasa in 1999, before being taken over by the shadowy US military agency, Darpa, in 2004.

Now in the hands of the US Air Force, the X-37B took off on its second test flight in March 2011 and has been orbiting the earth ever since.
 
The official purpose of the spaceplane is to test reusable spaceflight technology, although there has been much speculation over what are termed its 'dual-use' - or military - capabilities.  

There has been talk of satellite 'kidnap' missions, while Iran's government mouthpiece, Press TV, dubbed the X-37B a "secret space warplane" and a "first generation of US 'space Predator drones'".

Now, space watchers who have been closely tracking the X-37B - aka the Orbital Test Vehicle - believe they know what it has been up to. According to Spaceflight, the spaceplane's orbit closely matches that of China's space station, Tiangong-1 - and it could be on a spying mission.

Spaceflight editor Dr David Baker told the BBC: "Space-to-space surveillance is a whole new ball game made possible by a finessed group of sensors and sensor suites, which we think the X-37B may be using to maintain a close watch on China's nascent space station."

The US is suspicious of China's ambitions in space. Whereas Nasa is a civilian organisation ostensibly devoted to the peaceful exploration of space, China's space programme - including Tiangong-1 - is run by the People's Liberation Army.

However, not everybody is convinced the X-37B is spying on China's space station. Brian Weeden, a technical adviser to the Secure World Foundation and a former orbital analyst with the US Air Force, believes the spaceplane is more likely to be surveying the Middle East.

He told the BBC: "A typical spy satellite is in a polar orbit, which gives you access to the whole Earth.

"The X-37B is in a much lower inclination which means it can only see a very narrow band of latitudes, and the only thing that's of real interest in that band is the Middle East and Afghanistan.

"If the US really wanted to observe Tiangong, it has enough assets to do that without using X-37B." ·