Two secretive spaceships come out of "black"?

Space News, via space.com, has an interesting piece about SpaceX developing its own manned spacecraft. In it, the trade newspaper reports that the firm behind the soon-to-be-launched Falcon rocket also plans an Apollo-like spacecraft called Dragon. The company has been secretly working on the fleet for several years. Now, the company's likely to seek some funding from NASA to get the spaceships to completion. The move would fit NASA's strategy of finding private firms to get crew and cargo to the space station after the space shuttles retire.

Another trade publication, Aviation Week, is reporting on another secret spacecraft project this week. In a fascination article posted on its web site (click here to read it), Aviation Week details an apparently shelved project called Blackstar. The two-stage to orbit spacecraft, which some speculate has made secret orbital flights, is a mystery that AvWeek says it has chased for about 18 years. With the project facing cancellation, the magazine decided to put forward what documents and evidence is available about the project (including some contradictory information) before Blackstar's existence fades into oblivion.