Old spaceplane design will finally fly

A privately operated reusable spaceplane based on a Russian cold war design has been chosen by Nasa to fly at least six re-supply missions to the International Space Station (ISS). The Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser will launch on a rocket but land on a runway like the space shuttle.

Nasa currently use Boeing's ATK Cygnus module and Space-X's Dragon capsule to re-supply the ISS. While Cygnus is designed to burn up on re-entry, carrying rubbish for disposal, Dragon splashes down for retrieval and re-use.