The US Air Force is working on an unmanned space plane design based NASA’s x-37 program. The X-37B which would consist of a reusable Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) would be about a quarter of the size of the space shuttle and be able to deliver satellites into low Earth orbit. However unlike the space shuttle the X-37B would remain in orbit for several months before retrieving the previously released object for return to Earth, this would facilitate research on the expected lifespan of components destined for long term exposure to space. The X-37B’s first flight is scheduled for 2008 and will be launched from an Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral. Earlier this year NASA tested an approach and landing test vehicle designed to test re-entry trajectories for the OTV, the vehicle was released from Burt Rutan’s White Knight Aircraft which is famous for being the carrier aircraft of the craft that won the $10 million Ansari X-prize, SpaceShipOne. 

Read more about the X-37B here.

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