NASA mysteriously trying to pull world’s fastest plane, SR-71 Blackbird, out of retirement — and won’t say why

Seeing Blackbird fly again after all these years would be incredible. I’d love to know what NASA has planned for it.

nypost.com/2026/09/29/us-news/us-quietly-sr-71-blackbird-out-of-retirement-and-wont-say-why/

The reason they got rid of surveillance jets is that satellites can do it without any risk to a pilot and on a 24 hr basis.

During the Cold War, it had to overfly Russian airspace to be able to see far enough. They were within their rights to shoot at unauthorized aircraft in their airspace.

However, it could see a lot higher percentage of Iran without overflying, and Iran can’t legally shoot at something in international airspace