Spaceplane
Videos
A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and function as a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and
Space Shuttle Discovery
Landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis, a crewed orbital spaceplane
Buran spaceplane rear showing rocket engine nozzles, attitude control thrusters, aerodynamic surfaces, and heat shielding
An X-15 in flight
Dream Chaser
Videos
Dream Chaser is an American reusable lifting-body spaceplane developed by Sierra Space. Conceived as a crewed vehicle, it is being developed in a cargo configuration known as the Dream Chaser Cargo Sy
Spaceplane
…launched to orbit, reentered Earth's atmosphere, and landed: the U.S. Space Shuttle, the Russian Buran, the U.S. X-37, and the Chinese Shenlong. Another, Dream Chaser, is under development in the U.S. As of 2024, all past and current orbital spaceplanes launch vertically; some are carried as a payload in a conventional…
Dream Chaser Tenacity at NASA’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in 2024
Dream Chaser flight test vehicle in 2013
Dream Chaser engineering test article, being driven along the runway by a pickup truck after an atmospheric test
Prototype of the X-20 Dyna Soar - a spacecraft the Dream Chaser spaceplane is based on