A spaceplane is a rocket plane designed to pass the edge of space. It combines some of the features of an aircraft and some of a spacecraft. Typically, it takes the form of a spacecraft equipped with wings. A rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket for propulsion, sometimes in addition to jet engines. ... Layers of Atmosphere (NOAA) The Karman Line is an internationally designated altitude commonly used to define outer space. ... Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... An Ariane 5 expendable launch vehicle lifts off with the Rosetta spacecraft on March 2, 2004. ... A Laughing Gull on the beach in Atlantic City. ...

The orbital spaceplanes successfully flown to date, the United States Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran, have used their wings to provide aerobraking to return from orbit and to provide lift to allow them to land on a runway like conventional aircraft. Both these vehicles are still designed to ascend to orbit vertically under rocket power like conventional expendable launch vehicles. Each of these vehicles has a much smaller payload fraction than a ballistic design with the same takeoff weight; this is primarily due to the weight of the wings - around 9-12% of the weight of the atmospheric flight weight of the vehicle. This significantly reduces the payload size, but the reusability is intended to offset this disadvantage. In physics, an orbit is the path that an object makes, around another object, whilst under the influence of a source of centripetal force, such as gravity. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... An artists rendition of a Soviet space shuttle lifting off atop the immense Energia booster. ... An artists conception of a spacecraft aerobraking Aerobraking is a technique used by spacecraft in which it uses drag within a planetary atmosphere to reduce its velocity relative to the planet. ... It has been suggested that Dynamic lift be merged into this article or section. ... Aerial picture of a runway of Chennai International Airport, Tamil Nadu A runway is a strip of land on an airport, on which aircraft can take off and land. ... A Redstone rocket, part of the Mercury program A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust gas from within a rocket engine. ... An expendable launch system is a single-use launch vehicle usually used to launch a payload into space. ... In aerospace engineering, payload fraction is a common term used to characterize the efficiency of a particular design. ...

Other (suborbital) spaceplane designs use the vehicle's wings to provide lift for the ascent to space as well, in addition to the rocket. As of June 21, 2004, the only such craft to reach space have been the X-15 and SpaceShipOne. Neither of these craft were capable of entering orbit, and both began independent flight only after being lifted to high altitude by a carrier aircraft. NASA and Boeing are currently developing unmanned orbital spaceplane technologies as a low-cost alternative to expendable launch vehicles for satellite launches (see X-34, X-37, X-40A) June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... The X-15 in flight, early 1960s The North American X-15 rocket plane was perhaps the most important of the USAF/USN X-series of experimental aircraft. ... Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne The Scaled Composites Model 316 SpaceShipOne is an experimental air-launched suborbital spaceplane that uses a hybrid rocket motor. ... NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA)(TYO: 7661 ) is the worlds largest aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with its largest production facilities in Everett, Washington, about 30 miles north of Seattle, Washington. ... A satellite is any object that orbits another object (which is known as its primary). ... The Orbital Sciences X-34 was intended as a low-cost testbed to demonstrate key technologies integratable to the Reusable Launch Vehicle program. ... The Boeing X-37 is a demonstration spaceplane that is intended to test future launch technologies while in orbit and during atmospheric reentry. ... The Boeing X-40A Space Maneuver Vehicle was part of the X-37 Future-X Reusable Launch Vehicle project. ...

Future orbital spaceplanes may take off, ascend, descend, and land like conventional aircraft, providing true single stage to orbit capability. Proponents of scramjet technology often cite such a vehicle as being a possible application of that type of engine. A single-stage to orbit (or SSTO) launcher describes an as-yet theoretical class of spacecraft designed to place a load into orbit as a self-contained vehicle without the use of multiple stages. ... A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variation of a ramjet where the flow of the air and combustion of the fuel air mixture through the engine happen at supersonic speeds. ...

Various types of spaceplanes have been suggested since the early twentieth century. Notable early designs include Friedrich Zander's spaceplane equipped with wings made of combustible alloys that it would burn during its ascent, and Eugen Sänger's Silbervogel bomber design. Winged versions of the V2 rocket were considered during and after World War II, and when public interest in space exploration was high in the 1950s and 60s, winged rocket designs by Wernher von Braun and Willy Ley served to inspire science fiction artists and filmmakers. Friedrich Zander (August 23, 1887 - March 28, 1933), often referred to as Fridrikh Tsander (transliterated from the Russian version of his name: Фридрих Артурович Цандер) or Fridrihs Canders (the Latvian version of it) was a Soviet pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight. ... Eugen Sänger (September 22, 1905 - February 10, 1964) was an Austrian aerospace engineer best known for his contributions to lifting body and ramjet technology. ... Silverbird is also the name of a Telecomsoft software label. ... A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground targets, primarily by dropping bombs. ... German test launch. ... Combatants Allies: • Poland •UK & Commonwealth • France/Free France • Soviet Union • United States • China . ... Wernher von Braun stands at his desk in the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama in May 1964, with models of rockets developed and in progress. ... Willy Ley (October 2, 1906 - June 24, 1969) was a science writer and space advocate who helped popularise rocketry and spaceflight in Germany and the United States in the early-mid twentieth century. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ...

The USAF invested some effort in a paper-study of a variety of spaceplane projects under their aerospaceplane efforts of the late 1950s, but later ended these when they decided to use a modified version of Sänger's design. The result X-20 Dyna-Soar was to have been the first orbital spaceplane, but was cancelled in the early 1960s in lieu of NASA's Gemini and the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory program. Seal of the Air Force. ... The US Air Forces aerospaceplane project encompassed a variety of projects from 1958 until 1963 to study a fully-reusable spaceplane. ... Artists conception of the X-20 during re-entry The X-20 Dyna-Soar (Dynamic Soarer) was a USAF program to develop a spaceplane that could be used for a variety of military missions, including reconnaissance, bombing, space rescue, satellite maintenance, and sabotage of enemy satellites. ... Gemini (Latin for twins, symbol , Unicode ♊) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. ... Manned Orbiting Laboratory early 1960 conceptual drawing that did not use the Gemini spacecraft. ...

The British Government began a project known as HOTOL whose ultimate goal would have been a spaceplane, but the project was cancelled due to technical and financial issues. The lead engineer from the HOTOL project has since set up a private company dedicated to creating a similar plane with a different engine, called SKYLON. This vehicle would be capable of a single stage to orbit launch and would be in advance of anything currently in operation. Whether or not the company will succeed in building such a craft remains to be seen. HOTOL, for Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, was an unrealised British space shuttle proposal. ... HOTOL, for Horizontal Take-Off and Landing, was an unrealised British space shuttle proposal. ... The Skylon Spaceplane For other uses of the word Skylon, see Skylon (disambiguation) Skylon is a plausible design by top British rocket scientist Alan Bond for an aeroplane that would be able to fly into low earth orbit, and return, completely intact. ...

The March 5, 2006 edition of Aviation Week & Space Technology published a story purporting to be 'outing' a highly classified US military two stage to orbit spaceplane system with the code name Blackstar, SR-3/XOV among other nicknames. The alleged system, using an XB-70-like first stage mothership, capable of mach 3, is said to launch a upper stage wave-rider spaceplane capable of carrying small payloads and crews near or into orbit or on skip-diving flights, ostensibly for reconnaissance and other missions, acheiving surprise that cannot be attained by satellite. There has been considerable controversy over this story and its claims. March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aviation Week & Space Technology (often abbreviated as Aviation Week or AW&ST) is a weekly magazine which reports upon the state of the aerospace industry. ... Premiering in 1981, Blackstar was a sword and sorcery epic, probably inspired at least in part, by the immense popularity of the 1980s Thundarr, the Barbarian. ...