White Knight, the airplane built by Burt Rutan to carry SpaceShipOne to launch altitude, now has a part-time job with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) working with the X-37. According to this story at Space.com it's been conducting a slew of tests, including high-speed taxiing, all toward an eventual lift and launch of the new Spaceplane.
Oddly enough, not long ago the X-37 was all but dead, a victim of cost-cutting measures at NASA. Then it was transferred to DARPA who announced the eventual involvement of Scaled Composites but made no promises.
Now, it's being tested for flight: A cutting edge prototype Spaceship utilizing the latest propulsion, avionics and material technology.
Nifty, but let's see what becomes of it and how long it takes them.
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