space plane Archives

January 14, 2024January 14, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Shhh, NASA Reveals its New Quiet Supersonic Aircraft

NASA’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft sits on the apron outside Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility at dawn in Palmdale, California. The X-59 is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which seeks to address one of the primary challenges to supersonic flight over land by making sonic booms quieter. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works

The term space plane conjurs up all sorts of images and NASA, with their new X-59 (even the name sounds mysterious) they have definitely not dissapointed. Their new quiet supersonic aircraft has been designed to minimise the sonic boom it creates when it crosses the speed of sound. It will fly at 1.4 times the speed of sound and is set for its maiden flight later this year.

April 3, 2020April 6, 2020 by Nancy Atkinson

Stratolaunch Shows Off its New Hypersonic Testing Vehicle

A conceptual design of the Talon-A hypersonic vehicle. Credit: Stratolaunch.

A year ago, the high-altitude launch company Stratolaunch flew the world’s largest aircraft. Now, Stratolaunch has revealed the designs of two hypersonic aircraft plus a reusable space plane that will be launched from its giant Carrier Aircraft launch plane. The company hopes to begin test flights of these vehicles by 2022.

July 9, 2019July 9, 2019 by Matt Williams

Skywatcher and Satellite Tracker Photographs US Air Force’s Secret Space Plane in Orbit!

The U.S. Air Force's X-37B robotic space plane in orbit, as photographed by satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh. Credit: © Ralf Vandebergh

Ever since it started taking to space, there has been a lot of mystery and controversy surrounding the USAF’s X-37B space plane. Despite the fact that this militarized-version of NASA’s orbital vehicle has conducted several spaceflights since its first in 2010, we still have no idea what its true purpose is. But so far, the smart money appears to be on it being an advanced spy plane.

Hoping to gather clues to this question, skywatcher and satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands has spent the past few months hunting for this space plane in the night sky. Recently, he was fortunate enough to not only locate the elusive X-37B in the sky but also managed to snap some photographs of it. Given its diminutive size and secretive-nature, this was no small feat!

March 15, 2019March 15, 2019 by Matt Williams

Progress for the Skylon. Europe agrees to continue working on the air-breathing SABRE engine

An artist's conception of Reaction Engines' Skylon spacecraft. Credit: Reaction Engines

When it comes to the future of space exploration, the name of the game is “save money”. To do this, space agencies and aerospace companies around the world are investing in things like reusable rockets, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) rockets, and reusable space planes. This last concept builds on the tradition established by the Space Shuttle and Buran spacecraft, two reusable vehicles designed to make space launches more affordable.

The one drawback of these spacecraft was the fact that it still took two rocket boosters and a huge external fuel tank to put them into orbit. This is where the Synergetic Air Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE) comes into play. With the help of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the UK Space Agency (UKSA), this revolutionary hypersonic engine recently took a big step towards fruition.

October 24, 2014December 29, 2015 by Fraser Cain

Weekly Space Hangout – Oct. 24, 2014

Host: Fraser Cain (@fcain)

Guests:
Ramin Skibba (@raminskibba)
Continue reading “Weekly Space Hangout – Oct. 24, 2014”