X-37B military spaceplane launches from Cape Canaveral (BBC)

By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News

A prototype spaceplane developed for the US military has been launched into orbit from Florida.

The X-37B, which has been likened to a scaled-down space shuttle, blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 1952 EDT (2352 GMT) on Thursday.

The military vehicle is unpiloted and will carry out the first autonomous re-entry and landing in the history of the US space programme.
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At 9m (29ft) long and with a 4.5m (15ft) wingspan, the reusable spaceplane is about one-quarter the size of the shuttle, with a large engine mounted at the rear of the ship for orbit changing.

And while the space shuttle uses a fuel-cell power-system, the military vehicle is powered by a solar array and lithium-ion batteries.



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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8601172.stm




Hey, the USAF has its own space program now! Glad the US media are all over this!

since the beginning of the space program. The launch itself has been pretty well reported, I've read about it in a few places and watched it on CNN Headline News this morning.

This ship wasn't just slapped together over the last month or something.