You have a space plane. Google “x-37B”. Just got back from a 600 day mission in space.
I appreciate the mention.
When I address “space plane”, it’s a concept that involves being able to do turnarounds to space in a matter of hours, not weeks or months.
It involves being able to take cargo and humans there quickly and routinely.
It would allow for the industrialization of near space. Hotels, factories, facilities as way stations to the Moon and planets.
It would also facilitate the inception of a new military branch focused on space.
That sounds a bit iffy, but there will be a time when space is militarized. We should be at the forefront of that.
We have a Navy today to ensure the right of free passage on the high seas. A space command would ensure that for space.
So yes, the X37B does conduct long missions in near space, a year or two and perhaps more, but it isn’t the type of thing I had in mind, although it may be doing an excellent job along the lines of what it was designed for. It appears to be.