NASA announced June 10 that it would begin final negotiations with Orbital Sciences Corporation for a contract to develop and build the X-34, a demonstrator of advanced technologies needed for small reusable launchers.
The contract, worth an estimated $60 million, includes the development of a prototype and its first two flights. The first test flight would take place in the summer of 1998, according to a NASA press release.
The programs calls for developing a vehicle that can fly up to 25 times a year for less than a half-million dollars per flight. The vehicle should be able to fly up to 75 km (48 mi.) and be able to fly through poor weather at subsonic speeds. Commercial applications are not required for the X-34 vehicle.
OSC had previously worked with Rockwell on the earlier incarnation of the X-34 project, which was designed to build a reusable launch vehicle for small payloads. That relationship broke down, however, when NASA and Rockwell sparred over technical details of the project, including what type of engine should be used on the rocket.
After Rockwell pulled out of the original X-34 project, NASA reorganized the X-34 project into an advanced technologies development program that, unlike the original version, placed little or no emphasis on commercial applications of the X-34.
"We are eager to apply what we learned in our earlier efforts toward this program's revised goals," said OSC president David W. Thompson.
Aerospace giant Boeing announced June 3 that it would end its partnership with McDonnell Douglas in the development of a vehicle for the X-33 reusable launch vehicle program and not place a bid for the second stage of the project.
The two companies had been working together for 15 months on development of a proposed SSTO vehicle for the X-33 program. Their proposal would have been similar to the original designs for McDonnell Douglas's Delta Clipper vehicle, featuring vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.
"We had an agreement to work with them on the first phase [of the project]," Boeing spokesman Elliot Pulham said, defending his company's actions. "We never had any commitment to work with them beyond that."
Pulham told Reuters that Boeing did have concerns about the financing for the project, in which NASA plans on industry making a major investment in the program. "If we were to go and spend several billion on a new airplane we wouldn't do that without having a customer," Pulham said.
McDonnell Douglas is competing with Lockheed Martin and Rockwell on the X-33 project. One company's design will be selected as the winner and receive funds to develop a prototype vehicle for flight testing. That decision is expected by the end of June.
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