Boeing, Air Force to unveil reusable spacecraft
     LOS ANGELES - September 3, 1997 - 2:35 p.m. EDT -- It's made of
 the same stuff as golf clubs, shaped like a cigar and reusable. It's
 the Space Maneuver Vehicle - the future of Air Force reconnaissance.
     The Air Force and the Boeing Co. designed the crewless craft to
 perform reconnaissance and put small satellites into orbit.
     The military says it will give it more flexibility in gathering
 intelligence.
     "It's one of a number of programs that will define the way the
 Air Force operates in the next century," said Mike Matthews, a
 spokesman for Boeing's Space and Missile Systems Sector in Seal
 Beach, California.
      The prototype to be unveiled Wednesday was developed under a
 $5.3 million contract by Boeing and the Air Force's Phillips
 Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The cigar-shaped craft with
 stubby wings is made of graphite, epoxy and aluminum. It is 22 feet
 long and weighs 2,500 pounds.
     The final version of the vehicle will be slightly larger and
 could be launched into orbit by rocket or a space shuttle. It could
 carry a 1,200-pound payload, remain in orbit for up to a year and
 land on its own.
     "These would essentially be flyable satellites," said Rich
 Garcia, a spokesman for Phillips Laboratory.
     Initial flight tests were scheduled to begin in November at
 Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The craft will be dropped
 from a helicopter at 10,000 feet, perform gliding maneuvers and
 land under its own power.
     Planned test flights in space and tests of military applica-
 tions have not been funded.
     The project is related to the Military Spaceplane Program,
 which involves the development of a larger craft that would take
 off and fly into orbit without the assistance of a booster rocket.
     Last week, the Air Force awarded contracts to Lockheed Martin
 and Boeing to submit concept designs for the plane, which could be
 used to deploy the Space Maneuver Vehicle.
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