A new unmanned military space plane is being developed to launch small satellites into orbit and serve as a test bed for a futuristic fleet of hypersonic vehicles. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the government agency responsible for developing new military technologies, announced today (July 15) that it is moving forward with its latest high-tech project, the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program. The agency has awarded funding to three companies — Boeing, Masten Space Systems and Northrop Grumman — to develop a reusable unmanned vehicle capable of providing "aircraftlike access to space." [Humanoid Robots to Flying Cars: 10 Coolest DARPA Projects] "We're eager to see how their initial designs envision making spaceflight commonplace — with all the potential military, civilian and commercial benefits that capability would provide," Jess Sponable, program manager for DARPA's Tactical Technology Office, said in a statement.
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