“They Changed the Mission Midway”: NASA’s Dream Chaser Spaceplane Breaks Free From the ISS Plan (and It’s Aiming for Defense and Private Space) By Gabriel Cruz, Published by Rude Bagette, 9 October 2025 Sierra Space and NASA have revised their contract for the Dream Chaser spaceplane, transitioning its role from
The U.S. Space Force's robotic X-37B space plane is shown here in a 2009 photo at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. (Image credit: U.S. Air Force) Edited by Louis Oelofse, Published by DW 22 August 2025 It was the eighth flight of a X-37B, which was designed for the
Image by Getty / Futurism By Thomas Newdick, Published by The War Zone, 11 March 2025 Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman alluded to the kinds of counter-space capabilities that the U.S. Space Force is now prioritizing. he U.S. Space Force’s top officer has provided an unusually detailed description
Aurora spacecraft. Photo: POLARIS Raumflugzeuge Published by Militarnyi, 2 March 2025 German outlet Hartpunkt reported that Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology, and In-Service Support has awarded a contract to develop a reusable, two-stage hypersonic research spacecraft. The project has been entrusted to POLARIS Raumflugzeuge, a German startup that will
A notional rendering of China's reusable space plane. The exact appearance of the vehicle remains unknown. (Image credit: Erik Simonsen/Getty Images) By Brett Tingley, Published by Space.com, 6 September 2024 Details about the spacecraft and its mission remain largely unknown. China's mysterious space plane has returned to Earth after spending
Dream Chaser would ferry cargo, and eventually crew, to low-Earth orbit. Ken Ulbrich / NASA By Oluwamayokun Adetoro and James Campbell, Published by The Conversation, 8 February 2024 Nasa’s space shuttle operated in low-Earth orbit for 30 years before its retirement in 2011. However, the US space agency’s replacement for this vehicle, Orion,
A Long March 2F carrying Shenzhou-13 rising against the backdrop of the moon on Oct. 15, 2021. Credit: CCTV/framegrab By Andrew Jones, Published by Space News, 31 January 2024 HELSINKI — China’s experimental reusable spacecraft recently performed maneuvers to raise its orbit but is apparently yet to release objects as
By Kyle Mizokmi, Published by Popular Mechanics, 29 December 2023 Had it not been for a delay in the recent U.S. launch, the two spaceplanes would have entered Earth orbit at about the same time—proving China is trying to compete with America. On December 28 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
