[Mb-civic] Our Black Ops Space Plane?

[Jim Burns]

Jim Burns:

For the uninitiated, "Black Ops" are government programs, that don't
exist...

Get it?

Good.

Now swallow that secret capsule.

;-)

I happen to think if this story is accurate, and it comes from one of
the legit aviation trade magazines, this is pretty neat--

That we had an operational "space plane," years ago.

But also, a reminder, that for the nonce, we will never know where all
our money is being spent...


 
Two-Stage-to-Orbit 'Blackstar' System Shelved at Groom Lake? 
By William B. Scott 
Aviation Week & Space Technology
SPACEPLANE SHELVED? 

For 16 years, Aviation Week & Space Technology has investigated myriad
sightings of a two-stage-to-orbit system that could place a small
military spaceplane in orbit. 

Considerable evidence supports the existence of such a highly classified
system, and top Pentagon officials have hinted that it's "out there,"
but iron-clad confirmation that meets AW&ST standards has remained
elusive. Now facing the possibility that this innovative "Blackstar"
system may have been shelved, we elected to share what we've learned
about it with our readers, rather than let an intriguing technological
breakthrough vanish into "black world" history, known to only a few
insiders. 

U.S. intelligence agencies may have quietly mothballed a highly
classified two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane system designed in the 1980s
for reconnaissance, satellite-insertion and, possibly, weapons delivery.
It could be a victim of shrinking federal budgets strained by war costs,
or it may not have met performance or operational goals. 

This two-vehicle "Blackstar" carrier/orbiter system may have been
declared operational during the 1990s. 

A large "mothership," closely resembling the U.S. Air Force's historic
XB-70 supersonic bomber, carries the orbital component conformally under
its fuselage, accelerating to supersonic speeds at high altitude before
dropping the spaceplane. The orbiter's engines fire and boost the
vehicle into space. If mission requirements dictate, the spaceplane can
either reach low Earth orbit or remain suborbital. 

The manned orbiter's primary military advantage would be surprise
overflight. There would be no forewarning of its presence, prior to the
first orbit, allowing ground targets to be imaged before they could be
hidden. In contrast, satellite orbits are predictable enough that
activities having intelligence value can be scheduled to avoid
overflights. 

Exactly what missions the Blackstar system may have been designed for
and built to accomplish are as yet unconfirmed, but U.S. Air Force Space
Command (AFSPC) officers and contractors have been toying with similar
spaceplane-operational concepts for years. Besides reconnaissance, they
call for inserting small satellites into orbit, and either retrieving or
servicing other spacecraft. Conceivably, such a vehicle could serve as
an anti-satellite or space-to-ground weapons-delivery platform, as well. 

Once a Blackstar orbiter reenters the atmosphere, it can land
horizontally at almost any location having a sufficiently long runway.
So far, observed spaceplane landings have been reported at Hurlburt AFB,
Fla.; Kadena AB, Okinawa; and Holloman AFB, N.M. 

The spaceplane is capable of carrying an advanced imaging suite that
features 1-meter-aperture adaptive optics with an integral
sodium-ion-sensing laser. By compensating in real-time for atmospheric
turbulence-caused aberrations sensed by the laser, the system is capable
of acquiring very detailed images of ground targets or in-space objects,
according to industry officials familiar with the package. 

THE SPACEPLANE'S SMALL CARGO or "Q-bay" also could be configured to
deliver specialized microsatellites to low Earth orbit or, perhaps, be
fitted with no-warhead hypervelocity weapons--what military visionaries
have called "rods from god." Launched from the fringes of space, these
high-Mach weapons could destroy deeply buried bunkers and weapons
facilities. 

While frequently the subject of advanced studies, such as the Air
Force's "Spacecast 2020," actual development and employment of a
transatmospheric spaceplane have not been confirmed officially (AW&ST
Sept. 5, 1994, p. 101). However, many sightings of both an XB-70-like
carrier and a spaceplane have been reported, primarily in the western
U.S. Only once have they been seen together, though. 
On Oct. 4, 1998, the carrier aircraft was spotted flying over Salt Lake
City at about 2:35 p.m. local time. James Petty, the president of JP
Rocket Engine Co., saw a small, highly swept-winged vehicle nestled
under the belly of the XB-70-like aircraft. The vehicle appeared to be
climbing slowly on a west-southwest heading. The sky was clear enough to
see both vehicles' leading edges, which Petty described as a dark gray
or black color. 

For whatever reason, top military space commanders apparently have never
been "briefed-in"--never told of the Blackstar system's existence--even
though these are the "warfighters" who might need to employ a spaceplane
in combat. Consequently, the most likely user is an intelligence agency.
The National Reconnaissance Office may have played a role in the
program, but former senior NRO officials have denied any knowledge of
it. 

One Pentagon official suggests that the Blackstar system was "owned" and
operated by a team of aerospace contractors, ensuring government
leaders' plausible deniability. When asked about the system, they could
honestly say, "we don't have anything like that." 

Aerospace industry contractors suggest that a top secret Blackstar
system could explain why Pentagon leaders readily offered the Air
Force's nascent unclassified spaceplane project, the briefly resurrected
SR-71 program and the Army's anti-satellite program for elimination from
budgets in the late 1990s. At the time, an industry official said, "if
we're flying a spaceplane, it makes sense to kill these cover programs
and stop wasting money on things we can already do." 

U.S. and European aerospace companies have pushed two-stage-to-orbit
(TSTO) spaceplane concepts for decades. Most large U.S. airframe
manufacturers designed spaceplane-type vehicles during the 1950s and
'60s, and XB-70 program documents include a concept for carrying and
launching a low-Earth orbiter. Two former test pilots and executives for
North American Aviation (later, Rockwell) said the company had a
technically viable plan for such a system in the 1950s (AW&ST Aug. 24,
1992, p. 25). 

Boeing is believed to be one of several major aerospace companies
involved in the Blackstar program. On Oct. 14, 1986, Boeing filed a U.S.
patent application for an advanced two-stage space transportation
system. Patent No. 4,802,639, awarded on Feb. 7, 1989, details how a
small orbiter could be air-dropped from the belly of a large
delta-winged carrier at Mach 3.3 and 103,800-ft. altitude. The
spaceplane would be boosted into orbit by its own propulsion system,
perform an intended mission, then glide back to a horizontal landing. 
Although drawings of aircraft planforms in the Boeing patent differ from
those of the Blackstar vehicles spotted at several USAF bases, the
concepts are strikingly similar. 

One logical explanation given for why a Blackstar system is developed
says that, after the shuttle Challenger disaster in January 1986, and a
subsequent string of expendable-booster failures, Pentagon leaders were
stunned to learn they no longer had "assured access to space." Suddenly,
the U.S. needed a means to orbit satellites necessary to keep tabs on
its Cold War adversaries. 

A team of contractors apparently stepped forward, offering to build a
quick-reaction TSTO system in record time. The system could ensure
on-demand overflight reconnaissance/surveillance from low Earth orbit,
and would require minimal development time. Tons of material--including
long-lead structural items--for a third XB-70 Valkyrie had been stored
in California warehouses years before, and a wealth of data from the
X-20 DynaSoar military spaceplane program was readily available for
application to a modern orbiter. 

DYNASOAR WAS TERMINATED shortly after President John F. Kennedy was
assassinated in 1963, after $430 million had been spent on the
spaceplane's development. Political opposition and the fatal crash of
XB-70 No. 2 on June 8, 1966, contributed to the bomber program's being
canceled before Air Vehicle No. 3 could be built. However, at one time,
there had been plans to mate the two vehicles. 

In XB-70 Valkyrie: The Ride to Valhalla, Jeannette Remak and Joe
Ventolo, Jr., wrote: "One version of the B-70 could have been used as a
recoverable booster system to launch things into low-Earth orbit. . .. .
The DynaSoar program, the first effort by the [U.S.] to use a manned
boost-glider to fly in near-orbital space and return, was considered in
this context in November 1959. The B-70 was to carry the 10,000-lb.
DynaSoar glider and a 40,000-lb. liquid rocket booster to 70,000 ft. and
release them while traveling at Mach 3. With this lofty start, the
booster could then push the glider into its final 300-mi. orbit." 

The two-stage U.S. spaceplane concept apparently has undergone several
iterations since then, but the basic idea remained--launch a manned
boost-glide vehicle from an XB-70-like platform (AW&ST Dec. 24, 1990, 
p. 48; Sept. 24, 1990, p. 28). An aerospace industry source said the Air
Force once used the "Blackstar" moniker, but others suggested the
intelligence community referred to this TSTO combination as the
"SR-3/XOV" system. The SR-3 is the large, XB-70-like carrier aircraft,
while the small orbital vehicles drop-launched at high speed are called
XOV-1, XOV-2 and so forth. At one time, the XOV designator meant
"experimental orbital vehicle." 
Based on information gleaned from multiple industry sources, the SR-3
features: 
*A roughly 200-ft.-long, clipped-delta-winged planform resembling that
of the North American Aviation XB-70 trisonic bomber. The forward
fuselage is believed to be more oval-shaped than was depicted in a 1992
artist's rendering (AW&ST Aug. 24, 1992, p. 23). 

*Canards that extend from the forward fuselage. These lifting surfaces
may sweep both fore and aft to compensate for large center-of-gravity
changes after dropping the spaceplane, based on multiple sighting
reports. 

*Large, outward-canted vertical tail surfaces at the clipped-delta's
wingtips. 

*At least four engine exhaust ports, grouped as two well-separated banks
on either side of the aircraft centerline. 

*Very loud engines. One other classified military aircraft may have used
the same type of powerplant. 

*Operation at supersonic speeds and altitudes up to 90,000 ft. 

During the system's development cycle, two types of spaceplane orbiters
may have been flown. Both were a blended wing/fuselage lifting-body
design, but differed in size. The smaller version was about 60-65 ft.
long and may have been unmanned or carried a crew of two, some say.
Industry engineers said this technology demonstrator was "a very
successful program." 

The larger orbiter is reportedly 97.5 ft. long, has a highly swept,
blended wing/body planform and a short vertical fin. This bulky fin
apparently doubles as a buried pylon for conformal carriage of the
spaceplane beneath the large SR-3. The "Q-bay" for transporting an
optics-system pallet or other payloads may be located aft of the
cockpit, with payload doors on top of the fuselage. 

Outboard sections of the spaceplane's wing/body cant slightly downward,
possibly for shock-wave control and compression lift at high speeds
while in the atmosphere, whether on ascent or reentry. The only visible
control surfaces are flap- or drag-type panels on the wing's trailing
edge, one section on each side of the stubby vertical fin. A relatively
large, spade-shaped section forward of the cockpit--which gives the
orbiter a "shark-nose" appearance--may provide some pitch stability, as
well. 

The orbiter's belly appears to be contoured with channels, riblets or
"strakelets" that direct airflow to engine inlets and help dissipate
aerodynamic heating. These shallow channels may direct air to a complex
system of internal, advanced composite-material ducts, according to an
engineer who says he helped build one version of the orbiter in the
early 1990s. Air is directed to what is believed to be aerospike engines
similar to those once planned for use on the NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33. 

A former Lockheed Skunk Works official once expressed confidence in the
X-33 prototype orbiter's powerplants, noting that "they have history."
Whether this implies the aerospikes had flown before, perhaps on an XOV,
or simply referred to ground test-firings is unknown. The X-33 was a
prototype of what was to be the single-stage-to-orbit Venture Star
(AW&ST Nov. 10, 1997, p. 50). 

Technicians who worked at a McDonnell Douglas plant in St. Louis in the
late 1980s and early 1990s said much of the XOV's structure was made of
advanced composite materials. Some wing skin panels measured 40 ft. long
and 16 ft. wide, yet were only 3/8 in. to 1/2 in. thick. 

"Two people could pick them up; they were very light," one said. These
panels were stacked in a sandwich structure to obtain the required
thickness, then machined to shape. Although much of the structure was
honeycomb, it was "incredibly strong, and would handle very high
temperatures," he noted. Inside skin surfaces "were ungodly
complicated," though. 

WORK ON THE ORBITER moved at a relatively slow pace until a "fuel
breakthrough" was made, workers were told. Then, from 1990 through 1991,
"we lived out there. It was a madhouse," a technician said. The new fuel
was believed to be a boron-based gel having the consistency of
toothpaste and high-energy characteristics, but occupying less volume
than other fuels. 

Regardless of where they land, spaceplane orbiters usually are retrieved
by one or more "fat" C-5 Galaxy transports. Three of the oversized
aircraft were modified with 8-ft.-wide "chipmunk cheek" extensions on
each side of the cargo compartment aft of the nose hinge point; an extra
six-wheel set of landing gear that partially retracts up against the aft
fuselage, forward of the ramp; a shortened upper deck, and two internal
harness/cradle supports. These alterations originally were made to
enable carriage of dome-topped containers measuring 61.2 ft. long, 17.2
ft. wide (maximum) and 16.7 ft. tall at the highest point. The
containers normally protected satellites during transit to launch sites. 

In 1994, NASA sources confirmed that two of the C-5s (Tail Nos. 00503
and 00504) were listed on NASA's inventory--although the aircraft did
not "officially" exist, according to the agency's public records. Both
transports apparently were deployed only upon orders from the
administrator's office. The third oversized C-5 once had a red "CL" on
its tail, and supposedly was used by the Central Intelligence Agency.
All three C-5s may have been retired in recent years, according to a
NASA contractor. 

CRITICS ARGUE that there was never enough money hidden in intelligence
and military budgets to fund a small fleet of spaceplanes and carrier
aircraft. However, those who worked on the system's development at
several contractor sites say they charged time-and-materials costs to a
number of well-funded programs. Lockheed was the lead contractor for
Blackstar orbiters being fabricated at McDonnell Douglas in the early
1990s, and workers there typically logged their time against a specific
Lockheed charge number associated with that project. But their time
might also have been charged to the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP) and
the Navy's A-12 fighter accounts, they say. Both multibillion-dollar
programs were canceled with little but technology development gains to
show for massive expenditures. 

"At first, [supervisors] said we were working on NASP, but this thing
never looked like anything the public was shown," a McDonnell Douglas
technician who worked in the company's "black hole" facility said.
"Later, we were just told, 'Clock it to NASP and don't ask questions.'
We never did anything that was really NASP--and money was never a
problem." 

Whether the Blackstar system was ever declared operational or not is
unknown, but several orbiters may have flown over the years. A former
program manager at a major aerospace company once declared, "There's no
question; Lockheed is flying a two-stage space vehicle." 

Interestingly, after both Lockheed and Boeing pulled out of the NASP
competition (or were "eliminated") in the 1980s, they may have
collaborated to develop the two-stage-to-orbit Blackstar system under a
highly classified "fast-track" program. However, many other contractors'
"deep-black" teams probably also were involved in order to bring the
nation's best expertise to bear on what must have been daunting
technical challenges. 

AWST STORY
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