Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Robot Spaceplane To Launch In 2008

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the I-still-want-my-hover-car dept.

FleaPlus writes "The US Air Force has announced that it is developing an unmanned reusable spaceplane, the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle. The first launch is in 2008 on an Atlas V rocket. The X-37B will be one-fourth the size of the Space Shuttle and serve as a testbed for technologies for future reusable spacecraft. Its predecessor, the X-37, was drop-tested from the Scaled Composites White Knight mothership earlier this year."

1 of 75 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A USAF research only craft? Sure ... by SpleenVenter · · Score: 5, Informative

    Do you understand anything about orbital mechanics? Orbiting spacecraft cannot "loiter" except in a very few, very special kinds of orbits. The cannot meaningfully "reposition" with the specific impulse limitations of the engines and fuel available today. Oh, the heck with it: for all intents and purposes they cannot meaningfully do ANY of the things your message suggests.