David Axe, Wired.com Danger Room–“Video: Secret Space Plane Shatters Orbital Record as Chinese Rival Looms”
David Axe, “Video: Secret Space Plane Shatters Orbital Record as Chinese Rival Looms,” Danger Room, Wired.com, 16 June 2012.
The second copy of the Air Force’s X-37B robotic space plane landed at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California early Saturday morning, ending a record-breaking 469-day orbital mission that began atop an Atlas rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on March 5, 2011. The safe landing of Orbital Test Vehicle 2 after more than 15 months in space is an indisputable triumph for the U.S. military and space industry. Much less certain is the X-37’s future. Budget cuts, labor woes and the looming specter of a Chinese rival could blunt the diminutive robo-shuttle’s orbital edge. …
Meanwhile, the U.S. mini-shuttle could soon have competition. China is developing its own space plane called Shenlong — and apparently test-flew it for the first time in January last year. “Beijing may be entering the spaceplane era faster than many would have predicted,” warns Andrew Erickson, a Naval War College analyst. …
For the original study quoted here, see Andrew Erickson and Gabe Collins, “Shenlong ‘Divine Dragon’ Takes Flight: Is China developing its first spaceplane?” China SignPost™ (洞察中国), No. 58 (4 May 2012).
