Air Force Secretary Troy Meink revealed the US already has weapons in orbit but declined to identify them or explain how they operate.

The X-37b is everything you could want in an orbital surveillance, espionage and sabotage platform and it has existed for years…?

A good recent article on the x-37b

https://migflug.com/afterburner/fr/x-37b-space-force-mystery-spaceplane/

Officially, it tests reusable spacecraft technologies and carries experiments for the government. Unofficially, its knack for changing its orbit and vanishing from where trackers expect it has made it a favourite Cold-War-style headache for America’s rivals — a point a former Air Force secretary once made with unusual candour.

“It can do an orbit that looks like an egg, and when it’s close to the Earth it’s close enough to the atmosphere to turn where it is. Our adversaries don’t know where it’s going to come up next, and that drives them nuts. And I’m really glad about that.”

Heather Wilson — former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force (Aspen Security Forum, 2019)

  • supersquirrel@lemmy.caOP
    41·
    6 days ago

    No, virtually no other nation possesses this, China likely does to a certain extent and that is probably it.

    We are talking about an evolution of the space shuttle program, this is not something anybody possesses that cannot build a space shuttle type vehicle.

    • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineEnglish
      31·
      6 days ago

      You claim no other nation has a spaceplane sattelite with

      1. Telecommunications equipment

      2. Robotic arms

      ?

        • FiniteBanjo@feddit.onlineEnglish
          21·
          6 days ago

          Technically anything capable of achieving orbit is a satellite, but a sub-orbital spaceplane would be drastically less effective at the listed objectives.

          • supersquirrel@lemmy.caOP
            1·
            6 days ago

            It isn’t suborbital, it uses highly eccentric orbits to aerobrake and shift to different ones, not what you are saying at all.

              • supersquirrel@lemmy.caOP
                1·
                6 days ago

                Not in the common meaning of a manmade satellite, the chief difference being a normal satellite is highly limited in capability of changing and maintaining its orbit with a tiny reserve of fuel compared to a spaceplane that can also use its aerodynamics when it hits the atmosphere to redirect momentum and change orbits without firing thrusters hard.

                The X-37b is a reusable spacecraft which also makes it entirely different than a normal satellite.

                Are you just trolling me or can you really not understand the difference?

                If you are trolling me realize you aren’t making yourself look very intelligent in the process.