On 2/23/2010 4:33 PM, Brian Thorn wrote:

If such a secret space program exists, it would likely have to be an
air-launched system, probably operating from a base in the
inter-mountain west. A Boeing 747 or other large aircraft could
theoretically carry to altitude a small spacecraft launch vehicle,
like the Pegasus rocket. But a manned spacecraft is probably beyond
the theoretical capability of such a system. Prestigious magazines
such as Aviation Week have run speculative articles on such vehicles
(one derived from the old XB-70 supersonic bomber) but only in
connection with unmanned spacecraft (spy satellites) and even then,
few in the industry consider the story to be genuine.

If they did have something that was manned and air-launched operating,
it might well have slide out of the back of a C-5 while it's flying out
over the ocean in a climb.
There were two C-5C aircraft made that had an enlarged interior cargo
deck for NASA use in transporting oversized loads:
http://www.aero-web.org/specs/lockheed/c-5c.htm
Then there is the Quickreach satellite booster carrying C-17 variant:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/...quickreach.htm
Probably too small to have a orbital manned capability, but maybe as a
"pop-up" satellite destroyer?
Still, like you say, it seems like a overly-complex way to do a fairly
simple job.
Ran into this neat 1965 Lockheed design for a three-stage-to-orbit fully
reusable shuttle launched from a steam catapult a couple of weeks back:
http://dreamsofspace.nfshost.com/gif...gstations7.jpg
This actually resembles the "B-70" type space launcher that AW&ST called
the "Blackstar", with the front canards actually being the wings of the
top-mounted spaceplane. Time frame would be about right for when the
"Blackstar/Aurora/Brilliant Buzzard" rumors first in the early 1980's
started also.

Pat