Secret Space Plane Cannot Hide Forever

Space travel after the shuttle program appears to be split between traditional rockets and robot space planes.  While the new traditional rocket based vehicles have yet to be put into service the space plane is already making headlines.

The second time around was easier. The U.S. space plane was discovered just four days after it blasted into orbit, earlier this month. Cape Town, South Africa’s Greg Roberts — “a pioneer in using telescopic video cameras to track spacecraft, chalking up exceptional results over the years,” according to Space.com — spotted this second secret spacecraft, just like he found the first.

The X-37B has generated intense interest, long before it ever left the ground. Boeing originally developed the 29-foot unmanned craft — a kind of miniature Space Shuttle — for NASA. Then, the military took over in 2004, and the space plane went black. Its payloads were classified, its missions hush-hush.

The missions are still a secret and will likely remain so until long after their military service has expired.

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