NASA has chosen a design for a reusable orbiter to replace its ageing
shuttle fleet. Three aerospace companies, McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell
International and Lockheed Martin presented competing designs for the
prototype X-33 launcher, intended to be a completely reusable vehicle
bringing down the cost of placing payloads in space tenfold. US Vice
President AL Gore announced in July that Lockheed Martin will be
constructing the prototype.
When completed in 1999, this prototype, dubbed Venture Star, will be used
for test flights to cut development costs of building the larger final
spacecraft, which will also be operated by Lockheed and leased to NASA to
slash its 3.2 billion dollar operating budget.
"Our role is to develop high risk technologies industries can't afford,"
says NASA administrator Dan Goldin. "But we won't actually build the vehicle
- industry will. NASA will be a user, not an operator."
Payload bay 45ft x 15ft
Capacity: low Earth orbit 40,000lb
Geostationary orbit (GTO) 15,000lb
Shuttle payload (GTO) 2,800lb
Cost of low Earth orbit 100 dollars per lb
Cost per flight 10 - 15 million dollar
Launch date 2003
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