Those among you who like their skies filled with black helicopters, or indeed secret space launch vehicles, might have already caught a quite remarkable March report in Aviation Week & Space Technology which claims that the US has successfully developed and tested a "two-stage-to-orbit system that could place a small military spaceplane in orbit". The spook system, deliciously dubbed "Blackstar", allegedly comprises a carrier vehicle (codename "SR-3" according to AWST), to which is docked a reusable spacecraft (XOV or "experimental orbital vehicle"). On 4 October, 1998, claims AWST, eyewitness James Petty of Salt Lake City saw "a small, highly swept-winged vehicle nestled under the belly of the XB-70-like aircraft. The vehicle appeared to be climbing slowly on a west-southwest heading. The sky was clear enough to see both vehicles' leading edges, which Petty described as a dark gray or black color".The orbiter apparently lands in a conventional manner, a la Space Shuttle, and reported sightings encompass Hurlburt AFB, Florida, Kadena AB, Okinawa, and Holloman AFB, New Mexico.Provocative stuff. Of course, nobody in the US military has ever heard of Blackstar.

ASWT says "top military space commanders apparently have never been 'briefed-in'," concluding that "most likely user is an intelligence agency" with eyes on the deployment of surveillance equipment comprising "an advanced imaging suite that features 1-metre-aperture adaptive optics with an integral sodium-ion-sensing laser".So what's the solid evidence supporting AWST's story? As noted above, the SR-3 carrier vehicle resembles the XB-70 Valkyrie - legendary in both its technical ambitions and sheer cost.The XB-70 programme, initiated in 1955 by manufacturer North American, was designed to provide a very fast, long-range replacement for the B-52.Powered by six turbojet engines to Mach 3, the XB-70 (left) was 196 feet long with a wingspan of 105 feet. Two prototypes were built at a cost of $700m a pop. The first (AV/1) made its maiden flight in 1964, with sister ship AV/2 taking to the skies in July 1965. The programme was dogged by technical problems from the start, and ultimately doomed in June 1966 when AV/2 collided in midair with an accompanying F-104 Starfighter during a photo call flypast for the benefit of the manufacturers. Two pilots died and the aircraft was destroyed.

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There was a lot of doubt as to the truth of this story almost as soon as it was published, not least because most experts believe that a single stage vehicle able to fit under a Valkyrie bomber would not have been able to carry enough fuel to reach orbit.

Personally I won't be surprised if this story turns out to be just another AW&ST flight of fantasy, but I will be a little saddened. Now I can no longer see the beautiful shape of a Concorde in flight it would have been nice to have seen a Mach 3 Valkyrie.

the story might be false but there are air crafts that can exit earths atmosphere without massive amounts of fossil fuel.