Lockheed XQS-1A

The Lockheed XQS-1A is an alternate-80s experimental unmanned spaceplane based on the A-wing. Shrouded in secrecy, the USAF would use the XQS-1A for rapid-response interceptions of space targets if the Cold War ever went hot.

Flight testing and landings would occur around Groom Lake. Since the spacecraft is small, it would not require the huge runways that the Space Shuttle used and could touch down at Area 51. Naturally, these tests would lead to an explosion of UFO sightings, fitting in with the popular Black Triangle wave.

This is part of my ongoing (and almost complete) project to reimagine Star Wars ships as real 80s spacecraft. When the Strategic Defense Initiative was started it was quickly nicknamed Star Wars. My idea was to create what Ronald Reagan would have imagined the SDI spacecraft would look like based on the Star Wars movies.