UPDATE (2011-MARCH-3): The USAF is planning on again launching the X-37B on a classified mission. An unanswered question is whether this is a re-launch of the same X-37B which flew last year, or a 2nd prototype? If it’s the former, that’s significant for turnaround time.

Prologue: This piece was written and submitted for publication on Dec. 6, 2010, and published on Dec. 15th. On that very same day, Orbital Sciences announced that they were submitting an official proposal to NASA to build an orbital space plane to take up to four people into an orbit capable of delivering them to the International Space Station. This article actually scooped the news by over a week. – Mike

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Posted on TGDaily.com, by Michael R. Honig | Wed 15th Dec 2010, 11:38 am

Back in May 2010, shortly after it was launched, I wrote a speculative piece about the military’s X-37B experimental unmanned craft.

To me, it obviously bore a more-than-passing resemblance to two of NASA’s mothballed experimental space planes: the X-33 and the X-34. This tweaked my memory and provoked some comparisons and guesses.

So far, I think I’m the only one who has ever made the connections expressed in that piece.

Now, an update. Continue reading →