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US Military's XS-1 Space Plane Will Be Built by Boeing (Video)
"The U.S. military's new XS-1 space plane will be built by Boeing, and it's called
the Phantom Express. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today (May 24) it had selected Boeing for the next phase of its XS-1 project, known as the Experimental Spaceplane, after an intense competition among aerospace companies. The XS-1 is aimed to be a completely reusable military space plane capable of launching 3,000-lb. (1,360 kilograms) satellites into orbit 10 times in 10 days. The spacecraft could dramatically reduce the cost of launches to $5 million per flight, DARPA officials said." See: http://www.space.com/36985-darpa-xs-...m-express.html |
#3
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US Military's XS-1 Space Plane Will Be Built by Boeing (Video)
In article ,
says... "The U.S. military's new XS-1 space plane will be built by Boeing, and it's called the Phantom Express. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today (May 24) it had selected Boeing for the next phase of its XS-1 project, known as the Experimental Spaceplane, after an intense competition among aerospace companies. The XS-1 is aimed to be a completely reusable military space plane capable of launching 3,000-lb. (1,360 kilograms) satellites into orbit 10 times in 10 days. The spacecraft could dramatically reduce the cost of launches to $5 million per flight, DARPA officials said." See: http://www.space.com/36985-darpa-xs-...m-express.html Big waste of money, IMHO. XS-1 is a VTHL winged launch stage powered by SSMEs. It looks like a slightly warmed over version of Boeing's failed bid for NASA's X-33 contract. To be fair, I'd expect they're bidding what they know. Rockwell International, the company who built the space shuttle orbiters, was bought by Boeing many years ago. So, it doesn't surprise me that their vehicle looks the way it does. But expecting this to launch 10 times in 10 days and be cheap to operate is a stretch, especially with the SSMEs powering the thing. The SSMEs are being assembled from components that Aerojet Rocketdyne isn't using for SLS, so that is a bit sketchy. My guess is they're not going to be up to the latest "block" version of the SSME. Jeff -- All opinions posted by me on Usenet News are mine, and mine alone. These posts do not reflect the opinions of my family, friends, employer, or any organization that I am a member of. |
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US Military's XS-1 Space Plane Will Be Built by Boeing (Video)
================================================== ================================ "Jeff Findley" wrote in message ... In article , says... "The U.S. military's new XS-1 space plane will be built by Boeing, and it's called the Phantom Express. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today (May 24) it had selected Boeing for the next phase of its XS-1 project, known as the Experimental Spaceplane, after an intense competition among aerospace companies. The XS-1 is aimed to be a completely reusable military space plane capable of launching 3,000-lb. (1,360 kilograms) satellites into orbit 10 times in 10 days. The spacecraft could dramatically reduce the cost of launches to $5 million per flight, DARPA officials said." See: http://www.space.com/36985-darpa-xs-...m-express.html Big waste of money, IMHO. XS-1 is a VTHL winged launch stage powered by SSMEs. It looks like a slightly warmed over version of Boeing's failed bid for NASA's X-33 contract. To be fair, I'd expect they're bidding what they know. Rockwell International, the company who built the space shuttle orbiters, was bought by Boeing many years ago. So, it doesn't surprise me that their vehicle looks the way it does. But expecting this to launch 10 times in 10 days and be cheap to operate is a stretch, especially with the SSMEs powering the thing. The SSMEs are being assembled from components that Aerojet Rocketdyne isn't using for SLS, so that is a bit sketchy. My guess is they're not going to be up to the latest "block" version of the SSME. Jeff -- ================================================== =========================== Good point about the SSME's being used. Actually for a booster dense propellants such as kerosene or methane are preferable. You could use hydrogen for an upper stage based on the Boeing X-37, however. Then you could have a fully reusable system. Bob Clark |
#5
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US Military's XS-1 Space Plane Will Be Built by Boeing (Video)
"Robert Clark" wrote:
================================================= ================================= "Jeff Findley" wrote in message ... In article , says... "The U.S. military's new XS-1 space plane will be built by Boeing, and it's called the Phantom Express. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced today (May 24) it had selected Boeing for the next phase of its XS-1 project, known as the Experimental Spaceplane, after an intense competition among aerospace companies. The XS-1 is aimed to be a completely reusable military space plane capable of launching 3,000-lb. (1,360 kilograms) satellites into orbit 10 times in 10 days. The spacecraft could dramatically reduce the cost of launches to $5 million per flight, DARPA officials said." See: http://www.space.com/36985-darpa-xs-...m-express.html Big waste of money, IMHO. XS-1 is a VTHL winged launch stage powered by SSMEs. It looks like a slightly warmed over version of Boeing's failed bid for NASA's X-33 contract. To be fair, I'd expect they're bidding what they know. Rockwell International, the company who built the space shuttle orbiters, was bought by Boeing many years ago. So, it doesn't surprise me that their vehicle looks the way it does. But expecting this to launch 10 times in 10 days and be cheap to operate is a stretch, especially with the SSMEs powering the thing. The SSMEs are being assembled from components that Aerojet Rocketdyne isn't using for SLS, so that is a bit sketchy. My guess is they're not going to be up to the latest "block" version of the SSME. Jeff Bob, cut the following line out of your replies, as it will cause most newsreaders to simply delete everything after it since you don't quote things. -- "--" conventionally indicates 'end of article' and most newsreaders stop copying when they see it. ================================================= ============================ Good point about the SSME's being used. Actually for a booster dense propellants such as kerosene or methane are preferable. You could use hydrogen for an upper stage based on the Boeing X-37, however. Then you could have a fully reusable system. The whole system as currently designed relies on a 'high energy' upper stage powered by LH2/LOX, so the use of those propellants on the lower stage just makes no sense at all. -- "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." --George Bernard Shaw |
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