Satellites and spacecraft Satellites and spacecraft make several appearances within the alternate timeline of the " Fallout " universe . Some are featured in the backstory of the games , and are mentioned in pre - Great War documents and recordings , but were decommissioned , destroyed , or lost prior to the current date . Others are prominently featured in the plots of the Fallout games , such as in the canceled game " Van Buren " and the " Fallout 3 " add - on " Broken Steel " . Satellites . Satellites consist of man - made objects which are propelled into orbit around the Earth . They are used for various purposes , among them communication , surveillance , and even warfare . The three satellites that appear in the " Fallout " games were exclusively weapons of war , equipped with space - to - ground nuclear missiles . Decades have passed since these satellites were first sent into orbit and they have become derelict , with several functions disabled by collisions with space debris or disuse ; their lethality , however , appears to remain unaffected . B . O . M . B . - 001 . Ballistic Orbital Missile Base 001 was an orbital weapons platform with a capacity for 24 nuclear missiles and designed to be manned by a crew of six astronauts . Two were built by the United States government in 2073 as the ultimate offensive weapons , but were never used in the Great War . B . O . M . B . - 002 was knocked out of orbit nearly two centuries after the War , but B . O . M . B . - 001 , equipped with only eight missiles at the time , was rediscovered sometime prior to 2253 and featured in the plot of " Van Buren " . Bradley - Hercules . Bradley - Hercules is an orbital weapons platform deployed into space sometime prior to 2077 by the United States military and left dormant . It carried a payload of eight salvos of nuclear missiles potentially capable of targeting any location in the world . By 2277 , it had been rediscovered by the Enclave , who controlled through the mobile base crawler at Adams Air Force Base . The satellite had survived relatively unscathed through the centuries , and four missile salvos were successfully used to destroy Liberty Prime during the events of " Broken Steel " . The remaining salvos were used to destroy the crawler after the defeat of the Enclave by the Brotherhood of Steel , or the Citadel , the Brotherhood ' s fortress , depending on player action . Highwater - Trousers . Highwater - Trousers is a U . S . orbital weapons platform like Bradley - Hercules which was armed with eight micro - nuclear bombs which were also never used . In " Fallout 3 " , the Talon Company was able to reestablish contact with Highwater Trousers through SatCom Array NW - 05a , but the Array ' s targeting mechanism had fallen into disrepair . Without replacement rotors for the Array , the satellite could not be re - targeted and was locked on the area around the Array tower . When the satellite was activated , the bombs fell harmlessly on the nearby rock formations . Crashed Satellite . The Crashed Satellite is an unnamed satellite found in the Mojave Drive - in in the " " add - on " Old World Blues " . Apparently , when it crashed , it sent a signal to the Courier ' s Pip - Boy 3000 , which appeared in the form of the Mysterious broadcast . This signal , received after leaving Doc Mitchell ' s house at the beginning of the game , begins the quest Midnight Science Fiction Feature ! . The crashed satellite is found in the middle of the drive in with its panels still twitching . Around 23 : 00 to 1 : 00 , it will flicker on , projecting an image of an eye on the drive - in screen . Activating the satellite will transport you to Big MT and activate the quest " Welcome to the Big Empty " . Spacecraft . Spacecraft are vehicles capable of flight which can escape the gravitational bounds of a planet . Spacecraft developed on Earth were used to briefly convey astronauts into space or to land on the Moon , but technology had not advanced enough prior to the Great War for space flight to be a common occurrence , or for humans to explore other planets and moons in the Solar System . The United States space program and U . S . - built vehicles are mentioned in detail only in " Fallout 3 " and the non - canon " Van Buren " . Defiance 7 . Defiance 7 was the space capsule piloted by American astronaut Carl Bell in a historic mission on May 5 , 1961 . Bell became the first human to reach space , but was subsequently killed as the capsule re - entered Earth ' s atmosphere and was destroyed . Clarabella 7 . Sometime after Bell ' s flight , USAF Col . Hartigan and his space capsule Clarabella 7 were taken aboard Mothership Zeta . The capsule is still on display there , in a lab off the main Hangar . Delta IX rocket . The Delta IX rocket was a spacecraft model originally commissioned by the United States Space Administration in 2020 for manned missions to the Moon . As tensions increased between the U . S . and China , however , the Delta IX program was usurped by the U . S . military in 2052 . The remaining Delta IX rockets were equipped with nuclear payloads , effectively making them intercontinental - capable missiles . Hermes - 13 . The Hermes - 13 was a rocket intended for the first manned mission to Mars . The looming threat of nuclear war cut the mission before it ever began , however , and Hermes - 13 was converted into a shuttle to convey personnel and the necessary activation codes to the B . O . M . B . - 001 installation in 2074 . This mission was also canceled as resources were diverted from the U . S . space program to other efforts . In 2076 the Enclave seized Bloomfield Space Center , where the vehicle was housed , and intended to use Hermes - 13 to evacuate an elite few to another world ; this plan also never came to fruition , and the Hermes - 13 rocket was abandoned just as the Great War broke out . Valiant 11 . Valiant 11 was a Virgo II model Lunar lander built by the United States Space Administration . " Valiant 11 " successfully landed on the Moon on July 16 , 1969 , and the astronauts on board became the first humans to walk on a celestial body other than Earth . Valiant 12 . Valiant 12 was a Virgo III model Lunar lander built by the United States Space Administration . " Valiant 12 " landed on the Moon on November 14 , 1969 , the second manned spacecraft to do so . Alien spacecraft . Intelligent life from another world has created spacecraft to travel between the stars and inconspicuously survey the Earth . At least three alien vehicles are known of , one being a scout craft piloted by a single alien which crash landed in the Capital Wasteland , and the other two are alien motherships . One is destroyed in a battle with Mothership Zeta . Mothership Zeta . Mothership Zeta is a spacecraft built and used by the aliens , and appears in the add - on " Mothership Zeta . Recon Craft Theta . Recon craft Theta was an extraterrestrial reconnaissance spacecraft used to covertly scout out the Earth for unknown reasons . It crash landed in the Capital Wasteland at some point after the Great War , killing the pilot . The wreckage broadcasted a distress signal which was intercepted by Mothership Zeta in 2277 . Alien mothership . The alien mothership was a spacecraft built and used by the aliens , and appears as the final obstacle in the " Fallout 3 " add - on " Mothership Zeta " . Alien recon craft . The alien recon craft is a hovering anomaly located north of Horowitz farmstead with the Wild Wasteland trait . It is almost identical to the Recon craft Theta , with the only difference being its pristine state . Further down the hill are two and one . The alien captain wields a while an Alien blaster can be obtainable upon his death . The two other aliens both use , which can also be obtained upon their deaths .