Top-secret shuttle launched in US

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: A mysterious space plane rocketed into orbit yesterday, carrying no crew but a full load of technology experiments.

The US Air Force launched its unmanned mini-shuttle late in the morning. An Atlas V rocket lifted it up and out over the Atlantic.

This is the fourth flight for the military research programme which is shrouded in secrecy. The last X-37B mission lasted 674 day and ended with a California touchdown.

The Air Force won’t say how long this particular mission will last, or where it will end. Public commentary about the launch ended barely five minutes after lift-off, well before the space plane was supposed to settle into a relatively low orbit.

The X-37B looks like a miniature version of a Nasa space shuttle. It is 9m long and its wingspan is about 4.6m. Like the old shuttle, the Boeing-built X-37B launches vertically and lands horizontally, is reusable and has lots of room for experiments.

Such technology could be useful for future missions to monitor solar weather and keep a lookout for possible asteroids headed our way, said the Planetary Society chief executive Bill Nye.

“We’re very hopeful that the thing will deploy properly, sunlight will hit it and get a push.”

A similar experiment by the group was lost in a Russian launch accident 10 years ago. This time, it turned to United Launch Alliance, a venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Corp.

The group’s members are “very happy to be aboard a US-built, high-reliability, big-time rocket”, “So thank you guys,” said Nye. – AP