Black Files Declassified (2020–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Secrets of the Space Force - full transcript
Mike baker:
Declassified documents reveal
A space-based
military program...
The military hasn't yet said
what they want to do with it.
They haven't said anything
is ruled in or ruled out.
...One dedicated to
the weaponization of space.
The way I look at it is
I'm not militarizing space.
I'm parking cargo.
Baker: And a top secret
mission currently in orbit.
So we may have just seen
a black file.
And nobody knows exactly
what it's doing up there.
[ indistinct over radio ]
We have a splash.
Stand by for pda.
[ beeping ]
Baker: Every year,
more than $90 billion
Is allocated to
clandestine government programs
Collectively called
the black budget.
Each individual operation
is a black file.
I'm mike baker.
As a covert
cia operations officer
For over a decade and a half,
I supervised missions
around the globe.
My security clearances
gave me access
To many classified projects.
Now I'm following
the money trail
To the secrets hidden inside
the black files.
San diego, california,
March 2018.
A presidential speech to
the marines at miramar air base
Announces the creation of
a u.S. Space force,
A sixth branch of the military.
That pronouncement leaves
many puzzled.
What is the space force?
Is it the militarization of
space with lunar bases?
Will it involve
high-tech weapons
Fighting intergalactic battles
across our solar system?
If I know anything about
the government,
The president's announcement
is based on plans that have
Been in the works for decades.
Those plans are right here,
Hidden in various black budget
line items as top secret
Military research dedicated
to the weaponization of space.
They indicate that
the space force exists as
A $10 billion a year
military space program.
To confirm my suspicions,
I reached out
To space historian
amy shira teitel.
She says that recently
declassified documents
Indicate that
I'm on the right track.
I have some really interesting
pictures here,
But I think I want to start
with this one.
You are looking at proof that
somebody found a space suit,
The type of which
we've never seen,
Just sitting
in a trunk somewhere
At kennedy space center.
It doesn't look like
anything we've ever seen
Because it's not
a nasa spacesuit.
Baker: President eisenhower
created nasa,
The national aeronautics
and space administration,
To oversee the non-military
exploration and research
Of space.
It was to be civilian oriented,
Encouraging
peaceful applications.
That orientation
quickly changed.
Baker: The nasa suits
were white.
Teitel: Yeah, they were white,
they were silver earlier on.
We never had a blue one.
This is actually
a u.S. Air force
Space suit from the sixties.
This is potential evidence
of a military space program
From the mid sixties.
- Yes.
So who was involved?
Tell me about the people
who would have been
Wearing these uniforms.
There were seven astronauts
selected by the u.S. Air force
Who would have
been wearing these suits,
And they would have worn
them flying up to stay in
The manned orbiting laboratory.
That's what this program was
called, or mol for short.
The lab was actually a spy
platform in orbit that
The air force was planning
to use to check out
The soviet union from space.
Baker: Publicly,
mol's goal was
To determine military uses
for humans in space.
But its actual classified
mission was to put a crude
Surveillance station into orbit
To spy on the soviet union.
Two astronauts would be
launched on 40-day missions
Using a state-of-the-art
camera system
And side-looking airborne radar.
There were living quarters
And a compartment for
conducting experiments.
So, amy, how long did
this program, the mol,
Stay classified?
- It was only in 2015
That the national
reconnaissance organization
Declassified the documents
about mol.
-That's incredible, 1963 or so
-yeah.
Until 2015.
- Yes.
What was the budget?
Do we know what the black
budget was for the mol?
It was somewhere in the order of
$1.5 billion in
1960s dollars.
So with inflation, that's about
$10 billion by today's standard.
If this stuff was classified
from '63 to 2015,
You can only imagine what
technologies they were keeping guarded.
Baker: Amy's right,
u.S. Government records
Are automatically declassified
After 25 years
unless their release
Is deemed a threat
to national security
Or diplomatic relations.
This early incarnation
of a space force
Was classified for 52 years.
If we fast forward to now,
What do you imagine
the next generation
Of space satellites
to look like?
To be capable of?
- The optics on mol,
For example,
were supposed to be good enough
To resolve things the size of
a softball from orbit.
So if that's declassified,
that means
There's the next generation of
better technology.
I mean, this is technology
that will be able
To tell the color of your eyes
from space.
Baker: Amy's evidence cements
a connection between
The air force and the beginnings
of a space force,
Complete with plans
for the future.
But just how far did they get
with putting soldiers in space?
And why did the program end?
Or did it?
I'm on my way
to a remote location
In the mojave desert to speak
with a very rare
Type of expert,
A space archaeologist
named peter merlin.
He says he's found hard
evidence of soldiers in space.
This is the crash site of
the number three x-15,
A hypersonic, rocket-powered
research aircraft
Designed to fly
to the edge of space.
Baker: The x-15 was part of
the x-plane series
Of experimental aircraft
designed by the u.S. Air force
And nasa.
Powered by liquid propellant
rocket engines, the x-15
Reached mach 6.7,
or 4,500 miles per hour,
A world record that
still stands.
Over 199 flights,
It gathered valuable data
and reached the edge of space.
For all its achievements,
it will also
Be forever linked to
its one failed flight.
This is exactly where
the forward fuselage
Ended up right here.
What happened?
Give me... give me the details.
In November 1967,
u s. Air force
Major michael j. Adams
Was flying the x-15
on a research flight.
It was a high altitude mission.
He was trying to fly the plane
And do experiments
at the same time.
He became task saturated,
apparently enough distracted
To miss a switch on the panel.
He ended up putting the plane
Into a slow spin,
and at hypersonic speeds,
That was really serious.
The aircraft entered
an inverted dive.
Eventually, at 62,000 feet,
the vehicle just broke apart.
So 25 years after the crash,
you identify the crash site,
You come out here,
And there are still pieces
of the debris field?
- Absolutely.
- And what did you find?
We found quite a few
pieces, actually.
A piece of structure, the skin,
Parts of the tail surfaces.
In fact, I've got one with me
that I can show you.
You found this?
You'd be surprised
at the stuff I found.
There was a lot of big material
out in the debris field.
This is part of one of
The horizontal stabilizers.
- That's amazing.
Baker: Peter's find is concrete
evidence of the materials
And design of one of
The government's most
advanced craft,
A platform that was a key step
in paving the way
For a permanent presence
in space.
Was it purely
a military program?
Military has always been
a part of space.
The army was particularly
interested in establishing
A permanent manned
lunar settlement
Under project horizon,
But the scientists
were more interested
In developing spacecraft
That could go to the moon, uh,
Or even, you know, to permanent
space stations in orbit.
So a lunar base, in a sense.
There was definitely talk
about a lunar base.
Baker: So the u.S. Air force
had plans for planes in space
And orbital space stations,
Even a base on the moon.
Yet outside of
the x-plane series,
Most of these ideas were
abandoned... Or were they?
Could the current space force
Includes space planes
and lunar bases
Manned by space troops?
Like many of the black files,
Secrets are revealed
by poring over
The smallest detail
in government documents.
A reliable source tells me
that he's done just that
And has found
one unredacted word
In a recently declassified
paper that points
To a previously unknown
space weapon.
Baker: Recently declassified
documents reveal that
A military program designed
to weaponize space
Started in the 1960s
and continues today.
Ben mcgee is a good friend
and old source
Who happens to be
an interdisciplinary scientist.
What that means is he can
connect the dots
Better than most.
He's been poring over
a stack of recently
Declassified documents,
And he found a one-word clue.
It's got him very excited.
Now, all he would tell me
is that one word... saint.
Okay, ben, I'll bite.
- What's saint?
- Saint is something that I found
While I was poking through
recently declassified documents
On the manned
orbital laboratory.
Some of the things are
still redacted today.
But then I came across this
mention of the word saint.
Whatever it was on
This manned orbiting laboratory
is still redacted.
But what the heck is saint?
So I went on a deep dive.
I ended up having to go
to air force documents
From the same
year, And I found it.
Saint stands for
satellite inspector.
- Satellite inspector.
- Satellite inspector.
- Sounds mundane, right?
- Saint, right.
I mean, is that inspecting
our satellites?
It would examine unidentified
objects in space,
Determine their characteristics.
I go to the closure document
For this mol program...
One of the missions?
Inspection and destruction
Of hostile satellites.
- Baker: Satellites.
Baker: Destroying satellites
using asat,
Or anti-satellite technology,
Is considered a defensive
rather than offensive weapon.
Say the russians say they put
up a weather satellite.
This is our ability
to go and say,
Is it a weather satellite,
or is there a nuke on board
And they haven't told anybody?
- Covertly, obviously.
Yes, because this was from
The national
reconnaissance office,
Which is, again,
a clandestine office.
Baker: The national
reconnaissance office,
Or nro, works alongside
My old outfit building
and deploying spy satellites.
Are you saying that part of that
Or all of it is
still operational?
That's the thing that really
got me,
Because this was
declassified in 2015, right?
- Right.
This is
half-a-century-old stuff.
So what idea in saint is so good
That it has to still
be classified today?
There's only one reason...
It's if some part of it
Is a component of active
war planning documents.
So this means that some part
of saint has to be alive today.
Baker: So saint could be
an active black file
Asat project with technology
to identify and destroy
Enemy satellites.
How difficult is that process?
In a way, it's all about timing.
-Imagine this is a satellite,
-okay.
And I'm gonna have this orbit
around us.
Okay, and this is the... Missile.
- That would be your...
Your enemy missile.
Okay, so I see what
you're talking about.
This is... I mean,
this makes sense, right?
- It's predictable.
- It's coming around.
I could kinda start...
I start to get the rhythm.
So if that's a satellite
and this is the missile...
-You got it,
-the odds of me
Actually hitting this thing now
with tossing this ball
Is probably gonna be minimal.
Oop!
- Keep it spinning.
- Yep.
Back just a little bit, yeah.
Yes!
You just knocked
the satellite out of the sky.
- Look at that!
- You were able to do that
Using your reflexes.
Well, the world has super
computers all over the place,
So that kind of timing is
getting easier and easier.
You know, in my opinion,
the threat
To everything we have out
in space is only going up.
It's not going down.
The idea that asat
technology could
Lead to more conflict
isn't far off.
Asat missiles were first
conceived as surface-to-air,
At least publicly.
In fact, they were the reason
that the u.S.
Entered the outer space
treaty created in
The late 1960s to keep
space weapons-free.
Now are they the impetus
for a space force?
And is saint a top-secret
technology within our defenses?
[ exhales heavily ]
Well, I'm near
edwards air force base,
Uh, as near as I can get without
Drawing unwanted attention
from their security team.
In 1986, the culmination of
a six-year asat mission
Was launched from here...
Operation celestial eagle.
Now, to learn more about
today's asat technology,
I'm going to meet with
the only man who successfully
Shot down a satellite.
- General!
- Mike!
You're planning for,
about to engage in
What could be considered
One of the first
military acts of a space force.
Well, that's true.
It was the beginning of combat
in space by manned airplane.
The asat program was intended
to counter
What the soviets
were doing at the time.
Our task was to develop
a weapon that could be carried
On a fighter, an f-15
specifically, and launch it,
And it would go into a low
orbit space and detect
And intercept
the target satellite.
It was a development
between multiple companies
And the united states air force,
A lot of work done in
the black world.
And Friday the 13th,
it all came together.
I had clearance from
the command center to launch,
Final clearance,
And I launched going to
about 35,000 feet.
And what did you think
was going to happen?
Nobody really knew... would
a very high velocity object
Just simply punch a hole in it?
Or would it hit it And
cause it to explode?
Or what... I could see it
As it launched.
I rolled over inverted
and looked at it
As the missile fired in, uh,
the first stage.
And then it went out of sight.
I didn't know exactly
what happened,
But I really wanted to.
- Did you have to wait
Until you got back to edwards?
Well, no, I make a radio call
of any control,
Any zero-one leveling off
at 30,000 feet?
All I could hear in
the background was
This cheering and laughing
and applauding and everything.
So I immediately knew
we had hit it.
- And how did you feel?
- It was wonderful.
Where do you think we are now?
Interesting question.
I'm not sure I know
the complete answer.
I'm absolutely confident
the united states military
Is prepared to defend
our satellites.
There are technologies
available today that were not
Available in the eighties,
And there are probably more
sophisticated ways today.
When you hear the current
administration talking about
Establishing a sixth branch of
the military, a space force,
Do you kind of have in
the back of your mind
A thought, like, meh,
been there, done that?
Not exactly, but, uh, I'm glad
to have been a part of it
In the beginning,
Because we need to do that.
I'm an advocate of
the space force today.
I knew, as others knew,
We had to develop weapons that
could defeat our enemy
In space, so we had to do this.
General pearson believes that
defense is driving our need
To create a space force
with offensive capabilities.
So what is some of
the newest technology?
Well, the answer
involves star wars
And the biggest space plane
on earth.
Baker: Top secret technology used
to protect our space-based assets,
Satellites, is a driving
mission behind space force,
Past and present.
But how is that
black budget funded technology
Getting into space
in the first place?
Washington, d.C.
I'm at the spy museum,
meeting up with military veteran
And historian vince houghton.
He says the answer
is in plain sight.
- Vince!
- Mike!
- How you doing?
- Nice to meet you.
I spent a lot of time
in the cia,
So I get that overlap between
civilian and military programs.
But you're saying
there were some
Space shuttle missions
that were covert?
Houghton: What people don't
quite understand is just
Even the design of
the space shuttle was
Heavily influenced
by intelligence
And military purposes.
This stuff is so highly
classified that we're now
Decades separated from
these events taking place,
And we still don't know
what the space shuttle
Put up there in space.
Man: Four, three,
two, one.
Ignition and lift off.
Lift off of discovery,
The first flight
totally dedicated
To the department of
defense mission.
One of its operations
was to launch the hubble.
You know, to look at the cosmos
and look at the stars,
But also in its payload,
It might have had a signals
intelligence satellite
Or an imagery
intelligence satellite
To do intel work or to do
military communications systems
Up in space.
Baker: Obviously,
the intelligence community,
The military community,
Saw the advantages, I mean,
a big, big payload, right?
I mean, there's an opportunity
there for a lot of activity.
Well, that's the key behind
this space shuttle...
It had a huge amount of payload
It could lift up into space,
and then some of these signals
Intelligence satellites had
massive radio antennas
The size of football fields,
So you needed a big,
huge payload
Like the space shuttle had.
Baker: About the same time
the space shuttle was starting up,
There was tremendous amount of
interest in space
For military purposes,
Particularly from the reagan
administration, right?
The first manned space shuttle
took flight in 1981.
Two years later,
president ronald reagan
Announces the strategic
defense initiative,
Also known as star wars,
a program designed to shoot down
Satellites
and ballistic missiles.
What if free people could live
secure in the knowledge that
Their security did not rest
upon the threat of instant u.S.
Retaliation to deter
a soviet attack?
That we could intercept
and destroy strategic
Ballistic missiles before
They reached our own soil
or that of our allies?
What can you tell me about sdi,
The strategic
defense initiative,
And its involvement with
the shuttle program?
Shooting down soviet missiles
from space, dependent on putting
A constellation of satellites
into orbit,
Some of them to detect
missile launches.
Others were to track
the missiles in the flight.
You actually have to lock in
on that target.
Narrator: If we utilize
the extraordinary capabilities
Of the space shuttle,
America, for the first time,
Will be able to defend
herself against
A soviet missile attack.
Baker: Sdi, or star wars,
ended after the collapse
Of the soviet union,
But by 2002, it was back
as the missile defense agency,
Focusing on such exotic
sounding programs as
The airborne laser and other
High-energy,
physics-based technologies.
Now, the shuttle program
obviously ended.
- Right.
- But clearly the air force
Interest, military interest
in space, didn't stop.
Where do you think
the military is currently in...
In the use of space?
Space is a key component
In all of our military national
security operations.
We could not exist as a nation
without it, from early warning,
Which has been a key component
of space since the 1950s
And sixties, to communications,
To navigation, to the gps
systems up in space.
All these things were designed
For military and national
security purposes.
Baker: Is it possible that
the space shuttle positioned
Spy satellites
And the technology
to protect them in outer space?
And is a modern version of
star wars being deployed now
As part of the current
black file space force?
I asked ben mcgee...
He's still investigating
the technology behind saint.
He told me to meet him in
a remote location.
He's got something important
to show me.
All right, ben,
you dragged me out here
To what appears to be
the middle of nowhere.
What exactly is it that
you got us doing?
Keep your eye right about there.
- Right there, right?
- Yeah.
I mean, fan out a little bit,
I'm gonna be...
So we're looking for a...
What looks like a star
Moving steadily
up and to the right.
- Wait, that? There it is.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got it. You got it.
Yeah.
An airplane? No, no,
not an airplane.
So...
- It's a satellite.
- Satellite.
It's remarkably bright.
But not just any satellite.
Well... see, it's fading
right now?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's not in the sunlight long.
So that's why we're here
right now.
That object right there does
not show up in any
Publicly accessible
norad registry for satellites,
Even though... but you just...
You just saw it right there.
Baker: The u.S. Government
detects, tracks, and catalogues
All objects orbiting earth,
Including anything
we put into space.
Those records are all
available online.
Unless, of course,
they're part of
A classified mission.
So that's not catalogued in
The normal places
for unclassified satellites.
Correct.
All right, so...
Correct me if I'm wrong.
- It's not catalogued.
- Yep.
So we may have just seen
a black file.
You got it.
Baker: Ben mcgee is showing me
what he believes to be
A space force black file
project flying
Across the night sky.
So that's not catalogued
In the normal places for
unclassified satellites.
Correct.
So we may have just
seen a black file.
You got it.
Baker:
But how can he be certain?
All right, so this is
a long exposure,
And you see the track
right here.
This is actually
the satellite streak.
- Okay.
- You see,
It starts off dim.
- Yeah.
Goes bright as it goes
into full sunlight,
Then back out again.
Baker: We used a dslr camera
and put it on long exposure
So we can see the object
as it moves over time.
So you can... you can
track it, you can see...
Yeah, well, visually track it,
and now we know
It's, uh, it's bearing.
- So we got speed.
- Uh-huh.
If you know all of these things,
Basically its orientation,
its speed, timing.
You play that backwards,
and you could look for
If it lines up
over any known launches.
So you reverse engineer it,
Basically.
- You got it.
- Just play it backwards.
- And then you match it to
Whatever you've got
in terms of launches.
Yep, and all those are
out in the open.
It's hard to hide a launch.
This happens to cross right
over a launch from,
Uh, the cape
on September 7, 2017.
- Cape canaveral, okay.
- Cape canaveral, yeah.
That was on a spacex falcon.
It's a commercial rocket.
But we know what
that launch was.
It was the air force's
space plane.
Baker: Since nasa retired
the space shuttle,
The u.S. Air force conscripted
a new space plane
Called the x-37b.
Wait a minute, you're telling me
That what we just saw up there
is the x-37b?
You got it, on its fifth
mission, right there in the sky.
Baker: The first person
to discover the x-37b in orbit
Was dutch astronomer
marco langbroek,
Who regularly tracks
classified objects.
He confirmed the altitude
relative to the space station
And saw the object
actively maneuver,
Meaning it could not
be space junk.
-The x-37b that we just saw
-yeah.
Has been up there
for over a year now.
And nobody knows exactly
what it's doing up there.
And I like to stress that,
you know,
The world's only space plane
that's flying right now
Is owned by the air force.
It's the space force in action.
Well, in a way, yes.
And let me tell you, I actually
watched this program go black.
But what do you mean,
you saw it go black?
Well, so I was tracking
this stuff.
The x-34, the x-37, and the x-38
Were all being developed
at the same time
At nasa dryden research center.
They were all test modules
For the next generation of
space shuttles.
So, I mean,
I was tuning in regularly.
- You were tracking progress.
- It was cool stuff.
And, uh, suddenly, one day,
in 2004,
I pull up the website again,
And everything in the x-37
is gone.
At first, I thought, well,
is the website down?
But no, everything else was up.
It had just been scrubbed.
Several years later,
all of a sudden,
The x-37b is flying
for the air force.
Man: Three, two, one,
ignition.
And liftoff.
It went from
nasa control to darpa,
And then shortly thereafter,
to the air force.
- You got it.
- Being pushed into a black file.
- Yes.
- It's a black file in action,
Which is incredibly rewarding
because so much of
Our effort so far, right,
you bump up against
These dead ends or you just
can't get any further, you feel.
- Yeah.
- But that... that's visual confirmation.
And it's also exciting
because it shows that,
In a way,
the space force exists.
- It's already flying, yeah.
- Yeah,
- Fantastic.
- Thanks, mike.
We can see the x-37b, but we
don't know what it's doing.
Is it deploying more satellites,
Setting up a star wars
defense-like system,
Or something else?
I'm meeting with
a long-time black files
Investigator to learn
what he's uncovered.
- John.
- Hey, mike.
- The x-37b.
- Yeah.
Now you've spent a lot of time
filing freedom
Of information act requests.
- I've tried to.
- Tried to.
- It's a highly secretive
Program that they don't
want to talk about,
And, in fact, the responses
have been very few
And far between.
- Is this... is this...
- Yeah.
- Sort of what we're looking at here?
These are... well, the very
little that has come in.
I can tell you,
This confirms that it is
a united states air force,
At this point, program,
That this shows if
there is information,
It's the air force that'll
give it to us.
They're not denying
the existence of the program.
No, no, it's there, and
they'll tell you it's there,
But they won't tell you
why it's there.
What's the budget line
for this black file?
At this point,
we just don't know.
They're not talking to you
about what's the payload.
We know that it goes up,
we know that it comes down.
But what happens in between,
in the year, two years
That it's up there?
Your guess is as good as mine.
What's the function of it?
We know that it is trying
To develop and test
and implement
Reusable space technology.
So putting something up there
that can
Come back,
and we can reuse it again.
That's the public line.
Baker: Officially, the x-37b is
conducting experiments in space
In areas like electronics
And mechanical functions
to see how they deal with
The long term-effects
of being in space.
Speculatively, those experiments
could also include
Anything from weapons
to propulsion drives.
It's kind of a known formula
that generally the military is
About 50 years behind
Telling you what they're
really capable of, you know.
- 50 years?
- Roughly.
Yeah, I mean look at...
Look at the development of
The b-2 stealth bomber
And planes and aircraft like it.
And so now that we know
about the x-37b,
The capabilities of it
and what they are trying to do,
Or what they've already done
is anybody's guess.
Baker: Is the x-37b
Carrying out missions
for our future space force?
The government is gonna
stay tight-lipped,
But I've gotten ahold of
a key insider,
A general who oversaw the air
force's global air operations
And now has his sight set on
the key goal of space force...
The militarization of space.
Baker: Using recently declassified
files, we've tracked down
An active black budget
space force project currently
Orbiting earth, the x-37b.
We don't know its exact mission,
But given
it's a reusable platform,
It's certainly possible
that it's transporting
Some sort of technology
into space.
To help me learn more about
the militarization of space,
The goal of the space force
black file,
I've turned to a key insider,
Air force general
carlton everhart.
As head of
the air mobility command,
He's responsible
for mobilization
Air response anywhere on earth.
- General.
- Mike, how are you doing?
- Ah, doing well.
- Good to see you.
Good to see you, too.
There's some fascinating
media coverage out there
About the use of space
for military logistics.
We were looking at ways to be
able to get around the globe
Faster than the way
we do it now,
Our normal methodology of
either doing it by lift aircraft
Or doing it by ships...
When it comes to airlift,
That's fast,
but not much volume.
When it comes to sea lift, that's slow
but a tremendous amount of volume.
Could we meet something in
between to get us there faster?
Load up our cargo on rockets,
go to a sub orbital flight,
And then come down
to another side
On a point of the globe
in about 30 minutes.
It helps them be able
to execute faster.
It helps it to be
unpredictable and helps us
Be able go to any point
of the globe.
So you're really talking about
on-time delivery
- Exactly.
- Of just anything that's needed
By the combatants?
- Whether it was beans,
Bullets, ammunition.
Baker: The x-37b is staying
in orbit for extended periods,
So on-time delivery is clearly
not its mission.
Another method is actually
park things in space
Using a orbital barge.
In other words, pre-position
a lot of cargo in space
And bring it down
when it needs to be
Called forward at a point.
Baker: Sounds to me like
the general is talking about
Parking not just ammunition,
but weapons.
What about pushback regarding
the idea of militarizing space?
Well, the way I look at it
is I'm not militarizing space.
I'm parking cargo.
Yeah, is it weapons
that could be used?
Yeah, but it's used
on mother earth.
It's not used in space.
All I'm doing is bringing it up,
Parking it,
and bringing it back down.
Do you think that the military
is already pursuing this?
You know, we're already
using a space force
We're already bringing
that concept about.
We want to be able to use that
space media to our advantage
On all platforms.
So if we don't do it,
Some other nation, likely not
with our best interest at heart,
Is pursuing it.
- You don't think they are?
Absolutely, because
they want to be there first.
And if they can get there first,
Then they have the advantage.
General, I just want to say
thank you very much.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Baker: Everhart's view
is intriguing.
Small rockets or even
clandestine ships like the x-37b
Could be putting into place
The elements of a space force
or, at the very least,
Assisting with earth-based
battlefields.
But the military isn't
doing this alone.
As my investigation shows,
The partnership
between the military
And civilian companies
is long-standing.
I'm heading
to long beach, california,
Home to one of the biggest
companies in that partnership,
Virgin orbit.
General everhart
has been there to discuss
Potential collaborations
with the military.
They've told me they won't
speak about military cargo
In space,
But I'm determined to get
a behind-the-scenes look
At their operations.
Well, welcome to virgin orbit.
Dan, thank you very much.
I got to tell you, I've been
to a lot of places in my life,
But I've never been
to a rocket factory before.
Well, we're a busy shop here.
What's your mission?
Our mission is to put into orbit
A whole new array of
small satellites
That are being
developed commercially
As well as by governments.
Smaller platforms include
22-pound micro satellites
And nano satellites weighing in
at a pound or less.
They're used for communications,
To inspect other satellites,
and as spycraft.
You're the delivery mechanism
for those satellites.
Exactly, we're federal express
to orbit.
Okay, and how are
you doing that?
We're doing that by building
a small rocket
And putting it under the wing
of a 747,
Taking it to 35,000 feet,
dropping it off,
And flying to orbit.
This is the payload area
right here.
This is the payload area
right here.
So you can see, we can...
We can hold anything from
A lot of small satellites
up to a satellite
Maybe the size of
an industrial refrigerator.
Baker: That payload reminds me
of what
Vince houghton said
about the space shuttle.
The military needs craft that
can transport big payloads.
Now, with these
smaller satellites,
Virgin can handle the workload.
So this is our integration area.
And so behind us here is
our first orbital rocket.
How much interest does
the military have
In what you're doing?
Oh, quite a bit.
These new satellites
provide a whole different
Operating strategy
for national security.
The idea of getting
to space quickly,
Getting to space from anywhere
so that you're not just sitting
In one place
and launching satellites,
And being able to affordably
Get mission capabilities up
or quickly replace
Mission capabilities
if they're disabled
Is of huge importance
to national security.
How many are being built
right now?
We have five on the floor.
We've got a couple of test
articles up in the desert.
- With all that accessibility...
- Opening up space.
Opening up space,
any concern that with
That increased accessibility,
We may be leading towards the
possibility of space warfare,
More military use of space?
If the u.S. Military,
for instance,
Has the capability to put up
a satellite within a day
If it loses one,
Who's gonna put in
the investment
To take the opportunity
to mess with it?
You know, it's important
to keep in mind that
Space assets for military use
have been
Coming along steadily
through the last decade.
So they've been there,
and there's been
A large activity.
There's air force space
command today,
So an evolution into a larger
focus of that
Isn't a big surprise.
Baker: My visit to virgin orbit
makes me even more curious.
What could the technology
behind saint be?
Is it new spy tech,
satellite defenses,
Or an offensive weapon?
One thing is for certain.
There will be
a space force utilizing
The latest technologies to
protect our space-based assets.
But I wonder what those
futuristic weapons will look like.
As I began looking into
the technology and plans
For a u.S. Space force,
Another country
announced theirs.
France is spending $4 billion
on asats armed with lasers
To dazzle or destroy
enemy satellites,
Machine guns to fire at any
perceived threat,
And fleets of nano satellites
to protect
Larger recon
and communications satellites.
How similar are France's plans
to our own,
And with the u.S. Spending
$10 billion annually
On covert space programs,
What will our space force
look like?
To find out,
I'm going to speak with
patrick tucker,
A journalist and author who
specializes in writing about
The intersection of
emerging technologies
And national security.
- Patrick, hey.
- Hey.
Patrick,
when we're talking about
Building out of space force,
are any of these projects...
Are any of them sort of
advanced development
Moving forward from, say,
back in the mid-eighties?
Operation celestial eagle,
as an example.
The military is looking at
a research program
That's looking at
a few different things.
One of them is putting
a directed energy weapon,
That's a laser, on an f-35
joint strike fighter.
The hope being that that
stealth fighter is going to get
Into the range of
an enemy missile launch,
And as the missile
is lifting off,
The jet would use its laser
to destroy the missile
As it's heralding
towards the atmosphere.
Baker: 30 years ago,
general person shot down
A satellite with a missile
from an f-15.
Now, the pilot of an f-35
will be doing the same,
But with lasers.
The missile defense agency is
also looking at a program
Originally tried in the 1990s
To put a neutral particle beam
in space.
That's basically a ray gun.
It also works with
the electromagnetic spectrum,
Sort of like a laser.
But the photons aren't moving
at the speed of light.
Instead, you're working
with subatomic particles
That are moving slightly slower.
Baker: In outer space,
A particle beam would be
more effective than a laser,
Because the subatomic particles
Could penetrate a missile
or satellite versus a laser,
Which would only burn
the surface.
The prototypes that
the military was looking at
In the 1980s
And early 1990s
were incredibly large.
We're talking about things
that... the size of
A football field
That you would have to launch
into space.
It was incredibly impractical.
But today, they believe,
because of advances
In information technology,
miniaturization,
You can put a neutral particle
beam in space that can perform
Better and be much smaller.
Okay, so we're well beyond
sort of
The theoretical discussion
about the weaponizing of space.
That's what
the pentagon believes, yes.
One of the fascinating
developments seems to be
The x-37b.
Talk to me about that.
What do you think
it's doing up there?
Well, it could be doing a wide
variety of things... right now,
Mostly experimentation to see
how long it can stay up there,
What the coms are like,
etcetera, etcetera.
But potentially,
what it allows is for
A persistent presence
in space for the u.S. Military.
In theory, you could
outfit such a... an airplane,
Again, with either
lasers or missiles,
And then have it be
in constant orbit,
Which would allow it to
potentially strike anywhere
In the world
at a moment's notice.
That's a little bit of
a play off of
Retired general everhart's
comments about parking cargo
And other logistics up in space.
The military hasn't yet said
what they want to do with it.
They haven't said anything is
ruled in or ruled out.
But if you have a persistent
presence in space,
Potentially, such a plane
could carry a small crew,
Including perhaps an advanced
strike team that could be
Put down on earth
in any particular spot
At a moment's notice.
It's a rather elaborate
potential use of such a plane.
It's not something that
the pentagon has said
That they definitely
want to do with it.
But a plane such as that would
have that potential use.
In all your investigative work,
in your research
As a journalist
covering this issue,
To what degree are you seeing
any efforts by the big three,
Russia, china, and the u.S.,
To start talking about
a new treaty or some type
Of new agreement as to what
We're actually going
to end up doing up there
In space?
- Right now,
Uh, that doesn't look
particularly hopeful.
There is an agreement called
the new start treaty
That does govern
nuclear weapons,
Specifically their number.
But the problem is that that
treaty doesn't actually cover
Any of the newer
types of weapons
That we're talking about...
In terms of
A new space treaty,
this seems rather far away.
The president's announcement
that he wants to create
A sixth branch of the military
was big news.
But as we've learned,
black budgets have
Been funding military space
black files for decades.
Seeing what incredible craft
and weaponry are being
Developed as
the space force advances,
I'm convinced we'll be
discovering many more
Black files in the future.
Declassified documents reveal
A space-based
military program...
The military hasn't yet said
what they want to do with it.
They haven't said anything
is ruled in or ruled out.
...One dedicated to
the weaponization of space.
The way I look at it is
I'm not militarizing space.
I'm parking cargo.
Baker: And a top secret
mission currently in orbit.
So we may have just seen
a black file.
And nobody knows exactly
what it's doing up there.
[ indistinct over radio ]
We have a splash.
Stand by for pda.
[ beeping ]
Baker: Every year,
more than $90 billion
Is allocated to
clandestine government programs
Collectively called
the black budget.
Each individual operation
is a black file.
I'm mike baker.
As a covert
cia operations officer
For over a decade and a half,
I supervised missions
around the globe.
My security clearances
gave me access
To many classified projects.
Now I'm following
the money trail
To the secrets hidden inside
the black files.
San diego, california,
March 2018.
A presidential speech to
the marines at miramar air base
Announces the creation of
a u.S. Space force,
A sixth branch of the military.
That pronouncement leaves
many puzzled.
What is the space force?
Is it the militarization of
space with lunar bases?
Will it involve
high-tech weapons
Fighting intergalactic battles
across our solar system?
If I know anything about
the government,
The president's announcement
is based on plans that have
Been in the works for decades.
Those plans are right here,
Hidden in various black budget
line items as top secret
Military research dedicated
to the weaponization of space.
They indicate that
the space force exists as
A $10 billion a year
military space program.
To confirm my suspicions,
I reached out
To space historian
amy shira teitel.
She says that recently
declassified documents
Indicate that
I'm on the right track.
I have some really interesting
pictures here,
But I think I want to start
with this one.
You are looking at proof that
somebody found a space suit,
The type of which
we've never seen,
Just sitting
in a trunk somewhere
At kennedy space center.
It doesn't look like
anything we've ever seen
Because it's not
a nasa spacesuit.
Baker: President eisenhower
created nasa,
The national aeronautics
and space administration,
To oversee the non-military
exploration and research
Of space.
It was to be civilian oriented,
Encouraging
peaceful applications.
That orientation
quickly changed.
Baker: The nasa suits
were white.
Teitel: Yeah, they were white,
they were silver earlier on.
We never had a blue one.
This is actually
a u.S. Air force
Space suit from the sixties.
This is potential evidence
of a military space program
From the mid sixties.
- Yes.
So who was involved?
Tell me about the people
who would have been
Wearing these uniforms.
There were seven astronauts
selected by the u.S. Air force
Who would have
been wearing these suits,
And they would have worn
them flying up to stay in
The manned orbiting laboratory.
That's what this program was
called, or mol for short.
The lab was actually a spy
platform in orbit that
The air force was planning
to use to check out
The soviet union from space.
Baker: Publicly,
mol's goal was
To determine military uses
for humans in space.
But its actual classified
mission was to put a crude
Surveillance station into orbit
To spy on the soviet union.
Two astronauts would be
launched on 40-day missions
Using a state-of-the-art
camera system
And side-looking airborne radar.
There were living quarters
And a compartment for
conducting experiments.
So, amy, how long did
this program, the mol,
Stay classified?
- It was only in 2015
That the national
reconnaissance organization
Declassified the documents
about mol.
-That's incredible, 1963 or so
-yeah.
Until 2015.
- Yes.
What was the budget?
Do we know what the black
budget was for the mol?
It was somewhere in the order of
$1.5 billion in
1960s dollars.
So with inflation, that's about
$10 billion by today's standard.
If this stuff was classified
from '63 to 2015,
You can only imagine what
technologies they were keeping guarded.
Baker: Amy's right,
u.S. Government records
Are automatically declassified
After 25 years
unless their release
Is deemed a threat
to national security
Or diplomatic relations.
This early incarnation
of a space force
Was classified for 52 years.
If we fast forward to now,
What do you imagine
the next generation
Of space satellites
to look like?
To be capable of?
- The optics on mol,
For example,
were supposed to be good enough
To resolve things the size of
a softball from orbit.
So if that's declassified,
that means
There's the next generation of
better technology.
I mean, this is technology
that will be able
To tell the color of your eyes
from space.
Baker: Amy's evidence cements
a connection between
The air force and the beginnings
of a space force,
Complete with plans
for the future.
But just how far did they get
with putting soldiers in space?
And why did the program end?
Or did it?
I'm on my way
to a remote location
In the mojave desert to speak
with a very rare
Type of expert,
A space archaeologist
named peter merlin.
He says he's found hard
evidence of soldiers in space.
This is the crash site of
the number three x-15,
A hypersonic, rocket-powered
research aircraft
Designed to fly
to the edge of space.
Baker: The x-15 was part of
the x-plane series
Of experimental aircraft
designed by the u.S. Air force
And nasa.
Powered by liquid propellant
rocket engines, the x-15
Reached mach 6.7,
or 4,500 miles per hour,
A world record that
still stands.
Over 199 flights,
It gathered valuable data
and reached the edge of space.
For all its achievements,
it will also
Be forever linked to
its one failed flight.
This is exactly where
the forward fuselage
Ended up right here.
What happened?
Give me... give me the details.
In November 1967,
u s. Air force
Major michael j. Adams
Was flying the x-15
on a research flight.
It was a high altitude mission.
He was trying to fly the plane
And do experiments
at the same time.
He became task saturated,
apparently enough distracted
To miss a switch on the panel.
He ended up putting the plane
Into a slow spin,
and at hypersonic speeds,
That was really serious.
The aircraft entered
an inverted dive.
Eventually, at 62,000 feet,
the vehicle just broke apart.
So 25 years after the crash,
you identify the crash site,
You come out here,
And there are still pieces
of the debris field?
- Absolutely.
- And what did you find?
We found quite a few
pieces, actually.
A piece of structure, the skin,
Parts of the tail surfaces.
In fact, I've got one with me
that I can show you.
You found this?
You'd be surprised
at the stuff I found.
There was a lot of big material
out in the debris field.
This is part of one of
The horizontal stabilizers.
- That's amazing.
Baker: Peter's find is concrete
evidence of the materials
And design of one of
The government's most
advanced craft,
A platform that was a key step
in paving the way
For a permanent presence
in space.
Was it purely
a military program?
Military has always been
a part of space.
The army was particularly
interested in establishing
A permanent manned
lunar settlement
Under project horizon,
But the scientists
were more interested
In developing spacecraft
That could go to the moon, uh,
Or even, you know, to permanent
space stations in orbit.
So a lunar base, in a sense.
There was definitely talk
about a lunar base.
Baker: So the u.S. Air force
had plans for planes in space
And orbital space stations,
Even a base on the moon.
Yet outside of
the x-plane series,
Most of these ideas were
abandoned... Or were they?
Could the current space force
Includes space planes
and lunar bases
Manned by space troops?
Like many of the black files,
Secrets are revealed
by poring over
The smallest detail
in government documents.
A reliable source tells me
that he's done just that
And has found
one unredacted word
In a recently declassified
paper that points
To a previously unknown
space weapon.
Baker: Recently declassified
documents reveal that
A military program designed
to weaponize space
Started in the 1960s
and continues today.
Ben mcgee is a good friend
and old source
Who happens to be
an interdisciplinary scientist.
What that means is he can
connect the dots
Better than most.
He's been poring over
a stack of recently
Declassified documents,
And he found a one-word clue.
It's got him very excited.
Now, all he would tell me
is that one word... saint.
Okay, ben, I'll bite.
- What's saint?
- Saint is something that I found
While I was poking through
recently declassified documents
On the manned
orbital laboratory.
Some of the things are
still redacted today.
But then I came across this
mention of the word saint.
Whatever it was on
This manned orbiting laboratory
is still redacted.
But what the heck is saint?
So I went on a deep dive.
I ended up having to go
to air force documents
From the same
year, And I found it.
Saint stands for
satellite inspector.
- Satellite inspector.
- Satellite inspector.
- Sounds mundane, right?
- Saint, right.
I mean, is that inspecting
our satellites?
It would examine unidentified
objects in space,
Determine their characteristics.
I go to the closure document
For this mol program...
One of the missions?
Inspection and destruction
Of hostile satellites.
- Baker: Satellites.
Baker: Destroying satellites
using asat,
Or anti-satellite technology,
Is considered a defensive
rather than offensive weapon.
Say the russians say they put
up a weather satellite.
This is our ability
to go and say,
Is it a weather satellite,
or is there a nuke on board
And they haven't told anybody?
- Covertly, obviously.
Yes, because this was from
The national
reconnaissance office,
Which is, again,
a clandestine office.
Baker: The national
reconnaissance office,
Or nro, works alongside
My old outfit building
and deploying spy satellites.
Are you saying that part of that
Or all of it is
still operational?
That's the thing that really
got me,
Because this was
declassified in 2015, right?
- Right.
This is
half-a-century-old stuff.
So what idea in saint is so good
That it has to still
be classified today?
There's only one reason...
It's if some part of it
Is a component of active
war planning documents.
So this means that some part
of saint has to be alive today.
Baker: So saint could be
an active black file
Asat project with technology
to identify and destroy
Enemy satellites.
How difficult is that process?
In a way, it's all about timing.
-Imagine this is a satellite,
-okay.
And I'm gonna have this orbit
around us.
Okay, and this is the... Missile.
- That would be your...
Your enemy missile.
Okay, so I see what
you're talking about.
This is... I mean,
this makes sense, right?
- It's predictable.
- It's coming around.
I could kinda start...
I start to get the rhythm.
So if that's a satellite
and this is the missile...
-You got it,
-the odds of me
Actually hitting this thing now
with tossing this ball
Is probably gonna be minimal.
Oop!
- Keep it spinning.
- Yep.
Back just a little bit, yeah.
Yes!
You just knocked
the satellite out of the sky.
- Look at that!
- You were able to do that
Using your reflexes.
Well, the world has super
computers all over the place,
So that kind of timing is
getting easier and easier.
You know, in my opinion,
the threat
To everything we have out
in space is only going up.
It's not going down.
The idea that asat
technology could
Lead to more conflict
isn't far off.
Asat missiles were first
conceived as surface-to-air,
At least publicly.
In fact, they were the reason
that the u.S.
Entered the outer space
treaty created in
The late 1960s to keep
space weapons-free.
Now are they the impetus
for a space force?
And is saint a top-secret
technology within our defenses?
[ exhales heavily ]
Well, I'm near
edwards air force base,
Uh, as near as I can get without
Drawing unwanted attention
from their security team.
In 1986, the culmination of
a six-year asat mission
Was launched from here...
Operation celestial eagle.
Now, to learn more about
today's asat technology,
I'm going to meet with
the only man who successfully
Shot down a satellite.
- General!
- Mike!
You're planning for,
about to engage in
What could be considered
One of the first
military acts of a space force.
Well, that's true.
It was the beginning of combat
in space by manned airplane.
The asat program was intended
to counter
What the soviets
were doing at the time.
Our task was to develop
a weapon that could be carried
On a fighter, an f-15
specifically, and launch it,
And it would go into a low
orbit space and detect
And intercept
the target satellite.
It was a development
between multiple companies
And the united states air force,
A lot of work done in
the black world.
And Friday the 13th,
it all came together.
I had clearance from
the command center to launch,
Final clearance,
And I launched going to
about 35,000 feet.
And what did you think
was going to happen?
Nobody really knew... would
a very high velocity object
Just simply punch a hole in it?
Or would it hit it And
cause it to explode?
Or what... I could see it
As it launched.
I rolled over inverted
and looked at it
As the missile fired in, uh,
the first stage.
And then it went out of sight.
I didn't know exactly
what happened,
But I really wanted to.
- Did you have to wait
Until you got back to edwards?
Well, no, I make a radio call
of any control,
Any zero-one leveling off
at 30,000 feet?
All I could hear in
the background was
This cheering and laughing
and applauding and everything.
So I immediately knew
we had hit it.
- And how did you feel?
- It was wonderful.
Where do you think we are now?
Interesting question.
I'm not sure I know
the complete answer.
I'm absolutely confident
the united states military
Is prepared to defend
our satellites.
There are technologies
available today that were not
Available in the eighties,
And there are probably more
sophisticated ways today.
When you hear the current
administration talking about
Establishing a sixth branch of
the military, a space force,
Do you kind of have in
the back of your mind
A thought, like, meh,
been there, done that?
Not exactly, but, uh, I'm glad
to have been a part of it
In the beginning,
Because we need to do that.
I'm an advocate of
the space force today.
I knew, as others knew,
We had to develop weapons that
could defeat our enemy
In space, so we had to do this.
General pearson believes that
defense is driving our need
To create a space force
with offensive capabilities.
So what is some of
the newest technology?
Well, the answer
involves star wars
And the biggest space plane
on earth.
Baker: Top secret technology used
to protect our space-based assets,
Satellites, is a driving
mission behind space force,
Past and present.
But how is that
black budget funded technology
Getting into space
in the first place?
Washington, d.C.
I'm at the spy museum,
meeting up with military veteran
And historian vince houghton.
He says the answer
is in plain sight.
- Vince!
- Mike!
- How you doing?
- Nice to meet you.
I spent a lot of time
in the cia,
So I get that overlap between
civilian and military programs.
But you're saying
there were some
Space shuttle missions
that were covert?
Houghton: What people don't
quite understand is just
Even the design of
the space shuttle was
Heavily influenced
by intelligence
And military purposes.
This stuff is so highly
classified that we're now
Decades separated from
these events taking place,
And we still don't know
what the space shuttle
Put up there in space.
Man: Four, three,
two, one.
Ignition and lift off.
Lift off of discovery,
The first flight
totally dedicated
To the department of
defense mission.
One of its operations
was to launch the hubble.
You know, to look at the cosmos
and look at the stars,
But also in its payload,
It might have had a signals
intelligence satellite
Or an imagery
intelligence satellite
To do intel work or to do
military communications systems
Up in space.
Baker: Obviously,
the intelligence community,
The military community,
Saw the advantages, I mean,
a big, big payload, right?
I mean, there's an opportunity
there for a lot of activity.
Well, that's the key behind
this space shuttle...
It had a huge amount of payload
It could lift up into space,
and then some of these signals
Intelligence satellites had
massive radio antennas
The size of football fields,
So you needed a big,
huge payload
Like the space shuttle had.
Baker: About the same time
the space shuttle was starting up,
There was tremendous amount of
interest in space
For military purposes,
Particularly from the reagan
administration, right?
The first manned space shuttle
took flight in 1981.
Two years later,
president ronald reagan
Announces the strategic
defense initiative,
Also known as star wars,
a program designed to shoot down
Satellites
and ballistic missiles.
What if free people could live
secure in the knowledge that
Their security did not rest
upon the threat of instant u.S.
Retaliation to deter
a soviet attack?
That we could intercept
and destroy strategic
Ballistic missiles before
They reached our own soil
or that of our allies?
What can you tell me about sdi,
The strategic
defense initiative,
And its involvement with
the shuttle program?
Shooting down soviet missiles
from space, dependent on putting
A constellation of satellites
into orbit,
Some of them to detect
missile launches.
Others were to track
the missiles in the flight.
You actually have to lock in
on that target.
Narrator: If we utilize
the extraordinary capabilities
Of the space shuttle,
America, for the first time,
Will be able to defend
herself against
A soviet missile attack.
Baker: Sdi, or star wars,
ended after the collapse
Of the soviet union,
But by 2002, it was back
as the missile defense agency,
Focusing on such exotic
sounding programs as
The airborne laser and other
High-energy,
physics-based technologies.
Now, the shuttle program
obviously ended.
- Right.
- But clearly the air force
Interest, military interest
in space, didn't stop.
Where do you think
the military is currently in...
In the use of space?
Space is a key component
In all of our military national
security operations.
We could not exist as a nation
without it, from early warning,
Which has been a key component
of space since the 1950s
And sixties, to communications,
To navigation, to the gps
systems up in space.
All these things were designed
For military and national
security purposes.
Baker: Is it possible that
the space shuttle positioned
Spy satellites
And the technology
to protect them in outer space?
And is a modern version of
star wars being deployed now
As part of the current
black file space force?
I asked ben mcgee...
He's still investigating
the technology behind saint.
He told me to meet him in
a remote location.
He's got something important
to show me.
All right, ben,
you dragged me out here
To what appears to be
the middle of nowhere.
What exactly is it that
you got us doing?
Keep your eye right about there.
- Right there, right?
- Yeah.
I mean, fan out a little bit,
I'm gonna be...
So we're looking for a...
What looks like a star
Moving steadily
up and to the right.
- Wait, that? There it is.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You got it. You got it.
Yeah.
An airplane? No, no,
not an airplane.
So...
- It's a satellite.
- Satellite.
It's remarkably bright.
But not just any satellite.
Well... see, it's fading
right now?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- It's not in the sunlight long.
So that's why we're here
right now.
That object right there does
not show up in any
Publicly accessible
norad registry for satellites,
Even though... but you just...
You just saw it right there.
Baker: The u.S. Government
detects, tracks, and catalogues
All objects orbiting earth,
Including anything
we put into space.
Those records are all
available online.
Unless, of course,
they're part of
A classified mission.
So that's not catalogued in
The normal places
for unclassified satellites.
Correct.
All right, so...
Correct me if I'm wrong.
- It's not catalogued.
- Yep.
So we may have just seen
a black file.
You got it.
Baker: Ben mcgee is showing me
what he believes to be
A space force black file
project flying
Across the night sky.
So that's not catalogued
In the normal places for
unclassified satellites.
Correct.
So we may have just
seen a black file.
You got it.
Baker:
But how can he be certain?
All right, so this is
a long exposure,
And you see the track
right here.
This is actually
the satellite streak.
- Okay.
- You see,
It starts off dim.
- Yeah.
Goes bright as it goes
into full sunlight,
Then back out again.
Baker: We used a dslr camera
and put it on long exposure
So we can see the object
as it moves over time.
So you can... you can
track it, you can see...
Yeah, well, visually track it,
and now we know
It's, uh, it's bearing.
- So we got speed.
- Uh-huh.
If you know all of these things,
Basically its orientation,
its speed, timing.
You play that backwards,
and you could look for
If it lines up
over any known launches.
So you reverse engineer it,
Basically.
- You got it.
- Just play it backwards.
- And then you match it to
Whatever you've got
in terms of launches.
Yep, and all those are
out in the open.
It's hard to hide a launch.
This happens to cross right
over a launch from,
Uh, the cape
on September 7, 2017.
- Cape canaveral, okay.
- Cape canaveral, yeah.
That was on a spacex falcon.
It's a commercial rocket.
But we know what
that launch was.
It was the air force's
space plane.
Baker: Since nasa retired
the space shuttle,
The u.S. Air force conscripted
a new space plane
Called the x-37b.
Wait a minute, you're telling me
That what we just saw up there
is the x-37b?
You got it, on its fifth
mission, right there in the sky.
Baker: The first person
to discover the x-37b in orbit
Was dutch astronomer
marco langbroek,
Who regularly tracks
classified objects.
He confirmed the altitude
relative to the space station
And saw the object
actively maneuver,
Meaning it could not
be space junk.
-The x-37b that we just saw
-yeah.
Has been up there
for over a year now.
And nobody knows exactly
what it's doing up there.
And I like to stress that,
you know,
The world's only space plane
that's flying right now
Is owned by the air force.
It's the space force in action.
Well, in a way, yes.
And let me tell you, I actually
watched this program go black.
But what do you mean,
you saw it go black?
Well, so I was tracking
this stuff.
The x-34, the x-37, and the x-38
Were all being developed
at the same time
At nasa dryden research center.
They were all test modules
For the next generation of
space shuttles.
So, I mean,
I was tuning in regularly.
- You were tracking progress.
- It was cool stuff.
And, uh, suddenly, one day,
in 2004,
I pull up the website again,
And everything in the x-37
is gone.
At first, I thought, well,
is the website down?
But no, everything else was up.
It had just been scrubbed.
Several years later,
all of a sudden,
The x-37b is flying
for the air force.
Man: Three, two, one,
ignition.
And liftoff.
It went from
nasa control to darpa,
And then shortly thereafter,
to the air force.
- You got it.
- Being pushed into a black file.
- Yes.
- It's a black file in action,
Which is incredibly rewarding
because so much of
Our effort so far, right,
you bump up against
These dead ends or you just
can't get any further, you feel.
- Yeah.
- But that... that's visual confirmation.
And it's also exciting
because it shows that,
In a way,
the space force exists.
- It's already flying, yeah.
- Yeah,
- Fantastic.
- Thanks, mike.
We can see the x-37b, but we
don't know what it's doing.
Is it deploying more satellites,
Setting up a star wars
defense-like system,
Or something else?
I'm meeting with
a long-time black files
Investigator to learn
what he's uncovered.
- John.
- Hey, mike.
- The x-37b.
- Yeah.
Now you've spent a lot of time
filing freedom
Of information act requests.
- I've tried to.
- Tried to.
- It's a highly secretive
Program that they don't
want to talk about,
And, in fact, the responses
have been very few
And far between.
- Is this... is this...
- Yeah.
- Sort of what we're looking at here?
These are... well, the very
little that has come in.
I can tell you,
This confirms that it is
a united states air force,
At this point, program,
That this shows if
there is information,
It's the air force that'll
give it to us.
They're not denying
the existence of the program.
No, no, it's there, and
they'll tell you it's there,
But they won't tell you
why it's there.
What's the budget line
for this black file?
At this point,
we just don't know.
They're not talking to you
about what's the payload.
We know that it goes up,
we know that it comes down.
But what happens in between,
in the year, two years
That it's up there?
Your guess is as good as mine.
What's the function of it?
We know that it is trying
To develop and test
and implement
Reusable space technology.
So putting something up there
that can
Come back,
and we can reuse it again.
That's the public line.
Baker: Officially, the x-37b is
conducting experiments in space
In areas like electronics
And mechanical functions
to see how they deal with
The long term-effects
of being in space.
Speculatively, those experiments
could also include
Anything from weapons
to propulsion drives.
It's kind of a known formula
that generally the military is
About 50 years behind
Telling you what they're
really capable of, you know.
- 50 years?
- Roughly.
Yeah, I mean look at...
Look at the development of
The b-2 stealth bomber
And planes and aircraft like it.
And so now that we know
about the x-37b,
The capabilities of it
and what they are trying to do,
Or what they've already done
is anybody's guess.
Baker: Is the x-37b
Carrying out missions
for our future space force?
The government is gonna
stay tight-lipped,
But I've gotten ahold of
a key insider,
A general who oversaw the air
force's global air operations
And now has his sight set on
the key goal of space force...
The militarization of space.
Baker: Using recently declassified
files, we've tracked down
An active black budget
space force project currently
Orbiting earth, the x-37b.
We don't know its exact mission,
But given
it's a reusable platform,
It's certainly possible
that it's transporting
Some sort of technology
into space.
To help me learn more about
the militarization of space,
The goal of the space force
black file,
I've turned to a key insider,
Air force general
carlton everhart.
As head of
the air mobility command,
He's responsible
for mobilization
Air response anywhere on earth.
- General.
- Mike, how are you doing?
- Ah, doing well.
- Good to see you.
Good to see you, too.
There's some fascinating
media coverage out there
About the use of space
for military logistics.
We were looking at ways to be
able to get around the globe
Faster than the way
we do it now,
Our normal methodology of
either doing it by lift aircraft
Or doing it by ships...
When it comes to airlift,
That's fast,
but not much volume.
When it comes to sea lift, that's slow
but a tremendous amount of volume.
Could we meet something in
between to get us there faster?
Load up our cargo on rockets,
go to a sub orbital flight,
And then come down
to another side
On a point of the globe
in about 30 minutes.
It helps them be able
to execute faster.
It helps it to be
unpredictable and helps us
Be able go to any point
of the globe.
So you're really talking about
on-time delivery
- Exactly.
- Of just anything that's needed
By the combatants?
- Whether it was beans,
Bullets, ammunition.
Baker: The x-37b is staying
in orbit for extended periods,
So on-time delivery is clearly
not its mission.
Another method is actually
park things in space
Using a orbital barge.
In other words, pre-position
a lot of cargo in space
And bring it down
when it needs to be
Called forward at a point.
Baker: Sounds to me like
the general is talking about
Parking not just ammunition,
but weapons.
What about pushback regarding
the idea of militarizing space?
Well, the way I look at it
is I'm not militarizing space.
I'm parking cargo.
Yeah, is it weapons
that could be used?
Yeah, but it's used
on mother earth.
It's not used in space.
All I'm doing is bringing it up,
Parking it,
and bringing it back down.
Do you think that the military
is already pursuing this?
You know, we're already
using a space force
We're already bringing
that concept about.
We want to be able to use that
space media to our advantage
On all platforms.
So if we don't do it,
Some other nation, likely not
with our best interest at heart,
Is pursuing it.
- You don't think they are?
Absolutely, because
they want to be there first.
And if they can get there first,
Then they have the advantage.
General, I just want to say
thank you very much.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
Baker: Everhart's view
is intriguing.
Small rockets or even
clandestine ships like the x-37b
Could be putting into place
The elements of a space force
or, at the very least,
Assisting with earth-based
battlefields.
But the military isn't
doing this alone.
As my investigation shows,
The partnership
between the military
And civilian companies
is long-standing.
I'm heading
to long beach, california,
Home to one of the biggest
companies in that partnership,
Virgin orbit.
General everhart
has been there to discuss
Potential collaborations
with the military.
They've told me they won't
speak about military cargo
In space,
But I'm determined to get
a behind-the-scenes look
At their operations.
Well, welcome to virgin orbit.
Dan, thank you very much.
I got to tell you, I've been
to a lot of places in my life,
But I've never been
to a rocket factory before.
Well, we're a busy shop here.
What's your mission?
Our mission is to put into orbit
A whole new array of
small satellites
That are being
developed commercially
As well as by governments.
Smaller platforms include
22-pound micro satellites
And nano satellites weighing in
at a pound or less.
They're used for communications,
To inspect other satellites,
and as spycraft.
You're the delivery mechanism
for those satellites.
Exactly, we're federal express
to orbit.
Okay, and how are
you doing that?
We're doing that by building
a small rocket
And putting it under the wing
of a 747,
Taking it to 35,000 feet,
dropping it off,
And flying to orbit.
This is the payload area
right here.
This is the payload area
right here.
So you can see, we can...
We can hold anything from
A lot of small satellites
up to a satellite
Maybe the size of
an industrial refrigerator.
Baker: That payload reminds me
of what
Vince houghton said
about the space shuttle.
The military needs craft that
can transport big payloads.
Now, with these
smaller satellites,
Virgin can handle the workload.
So this is our integration area.
And so behind us here is
our first orbital rocket.
How much interest does
the military have
In what you're doing?
Oh, quite a bit.
These new satellites
provide a whole different
Operating strategy
for national security.
The idea of getting
to space quickly,
Getting to space from anywhere
so that you're not just sitting
In one place
and launching satellites,
And being able to affordably
Get mission capabilities up
or quickly replace
Mission capabilities
if they're disabled
Is of huge importance
to national security.
How many are being built
right now?
We have five on the floor.
We've got a couple of test
articles up in the desert.
- With all that accessibility...
- Opening up space.
Opening up space,
any concern that with
That increased accessibility,
We may be leading towards the
possibility of space warfare,
More military use of space?
If the u.S. Military,
for instance,
Has the capability to put up
a satellite within a day
If it loses one,
Who's gonna put in
the investment
To take the opportunity
to mess with it?
You know, it's important
to keep in mind that
Space assets for military use
have been
Coming along steadily
through the last decade.
So they've been there,
and there's been
A large activity.
There's air force space
command today,
So an evolution into a larger
focus of that
Isn't a big surprise.
Baker: My visit to virgin orbit
makes me even more curious.
What could the technology
behind saint be?
Is it new spy tech,
satellite defenses,
Or an offensive weapon?
One thing is for certain.
There will be
a space force utilizing
The latest technologies to
protect our space-based assets.
But I wonder what those
futuristic weapons will look like.
As I began looking into
the technology and plans
For a u.S. Space force,
Another country
announced theirs.
France is spending $4 billion
on asats armed with lasers
To dazzle or destroy
enemy satellites,
Machine guns to fire at any
perceived threat,
And fleets of nano satellites
to protect
Larger recon
and communications satellites.
How similar are France's plans
to our own,
And with the u.S. Spending
$10 billion annually
On covert space programs,
What will our space force
look like?
To find out,
I'm going to speak with
patrick tucker,
A journalist and author who
specializes in writing about
The intersection of
emerging technologies
And national security.
- Patrick, hey.
- Hey.
Patrick,
when we're talking about
Building out of space force,
are any of these projects...
Are any of them sort of
advanced development
Moving forward from, say,
back in the mid-eighties?
Operation celestial eagle,
as an example.
The military is looking at
a research program
That's looking at
a few different things.
One of them is putting
a directed energy weapon,
That's a laser, on an f-35
joint strike fighter.
The hope being that that
stealth fighter is going to get
Into the range of
an enemy missile launch,
And as the missile
is lifting off,
The jet would use its laser
to destroy the missile
As it's heralding
towards the atmosphere.
Baker: 30 years ago,
general person shot down
A satellite with a missile
from an f-15.
Now, the pilot of an f-35
will be doing the same,
But with lasers.
The missile defense agency is
also looking at a program
Originally tried in the 1990s
To put a neutral particle beam
in space.
That's basically a ray gun.
It also works with
the electromagnetic spectrum,
Sort of like a laser.
But the photons aren't moving
at the speed of light.
Instead, you're working
with subatomic particles
That are moving slightly slower.
Baker: In outer space,
A particle beam would be
more effective than a laser,
Because the subatomic particles
Could penetrate a missile
or satellite versus a laser,
Which would only burn
the surface.
The prototypes that
the military was looking at
In the 1980s
And early 1990s
were incredibly large.
We're talking about things
that... the size of
A football field
That you would have to launch
into space.
It was incredibly impractical.
But today, they believe,
because of advances
In information technology,
miniaturization,
You can put a neutral particle
beam in space that can perform
Better and be much smaller.
Okay, so we're well beyond
sort of
The theoretical discussion
about the weaponizing of space.
That's what
the pentagon believes, yes.
One of the fascinating
developments seems to be
The x-37b.
Talk to me about that.
What do you think
it's doing up there?
Well, it could be doing a wide
variety of things... right now,
Mostly experimentation to see
how long it can stay up there,
What the coms are like,
etcetera, etcetera.
But potentially,
what it allows is for
A persistent presence
in space for the u.S. Military.
In theory, you could
outfit such a... an airplane,
Again, with either
lasers or missiles,
And then have it be
in constant orbit,
Which would allow it to
potentially strike anywhere
In the world
at a moment's notice.
That's a little bit of
a play off of
Retired general everhart's
comments about parking cargo
And other logistics up in space.
The military hasn't yet said
what they want to do with it.
They haven't said anything is
ruled in or ruled out.
But if you have a persistent
presence in space,
Potentially, such a plane
could carry a small crew,
Including perhaps an advanced
strike team that could be
Put down on earth
in any particular spot
At a moment's notice.
It's a rather elaborate
potential use of such a plane.
It's not something that
the pentagon has said
That they definitely
want to do with it.
But a plane such as that would
have that potential use.
In all your investigative work,
in your research
As a journalist
covering this issue,
To what degree are you seeing
any efforts by the big three,
Russia, china, and the u.S.,
To start talking about
a new treaty or some type
Of new agreement as to what
We're actually going
to end up doing up there
In space?
- Right now,
Uh, that doesn't look
particularly hopeful.
There is an agreement called
the new start treaty
That does govern
nuclear weapons,
Specifically their number.
But the problem is that that
treaty doesn't actually cover
Any of the newer
types of weapons
That we're talking about...
In terms of
A new space treaty,
this seems rather far away.
The president's announcement
that he wants to create
A sixth branch of the military
was big news.
But as we've learned,
black budgets have
Been funding military space
black files for decades.
Seeing what incredible craft
and weaponry are being
Developed as
the space force advances,
I'm convinced we'll be
discovering many more
Black files in the future.