Until Jan. 20, 2009?

There’s a race against time between forces for “regime change” in both countries. Will a new US administration take an “oh well” stance, or will Iranian moderates pull the country away from its nuclear ambitions? If I had to bet, I’d guess we blink first. The question is whether Bush & Cheney are ballsy enough to take that option away from the next administration.

AWST STORY

For 16 years, Aviation Week & Space Technology has investigated myriad sightings of a two-stage-to-orbit system that could place a small military spaceplane in orbit. Considerable evidence supports the existence of such a highly classified system, and top Pentagon officials have hinted that it’s “out there,” but iron-clad confirmation that meets AW&ST standards has remained elusive. Now facing the possibility that this innovative “Blackstar” system may have been shelved, we elected to share what we’ve learned about it with our readers, rather than let an intriguing technological breakthrough vanish into “black world” history, known to only a few insiders. U.S. intelligence agencies may have quietly mothballed a highly classified two-stage-to-orbit spaceplane system designed in the 1980s for reconnaissance, satellite-insertion and, possibly, weapons delivery. It could be a victim of shrinking federal budgets strained by war costs, or it may not have met performance or operational goals.

The full article, which is lengthy and full of operational details, is well worth reading.

The interesting question is why this capability is being shelved: what has replaced it?