"While there's a high-level of hush-hushness surrounding the flight, what could the X-37B flight imply and what's behind the project?
There could be a trio of rationales, suggested military space specialist, Roger Handberg, Professor and Chair in the Department of Political Science at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
The X-37B appears to be a vestige of the 1990s push by the Air Force and NASA for reusable vehicles, Handberg noted. He advised that the project may signify continued U.S. Air Force interest in a rapid response vehicle along the lines of the long-proposed space maneuver vehicle and the X-37B is their best shot for that type program.
"The second explanation is that of bureaucratic inertia in military programs which is why the justifications and cost estimates are so obscure and mysterious," Handberg said. "Once started, programs are difficult to kill especially when the proponents speak of marvelous capabilities analogous to aircraft style operation down the road."
A third reason, Handberg continued, is to think of this effort "as the logical extension of the push into unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) where vehicles used for observation have moved into weapon carriers and various of other missions, many classified." Indeed, one could build an architecture linking UAVs and such vehicles to give you truly global reach, he added."
