The Rocketplane XP was a

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the atmosphere or surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched, so that it will not complete one orbital r ...

spaceplane A spaceplane is a vehicle that can fly and glide like an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and maneuver like a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbital spaceplanes ten ...

design that was under development c. 2005 by

Rocketplane Kistler Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) was a reusable launch system firm originally based in Oklahoma. It was formed in 2006 after Rocketplane Limited, Inc. acquired Kistler Aerospace. NASA announced that Rocketplane Kistler had been chosen to develop crew an ...

. The vehicle was to be powered by two

jet engines A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term typicall ...

and a

rocket engine A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accordanc ...

, intended to enable it to reach

space. The XP would have operated from existing

spaceports A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport'', and even more so ''cosmodrome'', has traditionally been used for sites capable ...

in a manner consistent with established commercial aviation practices. Commercial flights were projected to begin in 2009. Rocketplane Global declared bankruptcy in mid-June 2010. Their assets were auctioned off in 2011.

Design and development

Mockup de Rocketplane y Spaceship One (872427219)

As envisioned, the Rocketplane XP would carry a pilot and five passengers on a flight profile from a runway using

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine discharging a fast-moving jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition can include rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and hybrid propulsion, the term ...

s like a conventional aircraft. It would then climb to about 12 km (40,000 feet). At this point, a reusable

would power the XP on a suborbital trajectory reaching altitudes of over after burnout. The XP was to then reenter Earth's atmosphere and land at the same spaceport under conventional jet power. The relatively low speeds involved meant that heat shielding was not a major concern. The XP was expected to operate from the

Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark : ''For the military use of the facility before 1969 see Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base'' The Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark, also known as the Oklahoma Air & Space Port is a spaceport in Washita County, Oklahoma, near the town of Burns Flat ...

near

Burns Flat, Oklahoma Burns Flat is a town in Washita County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,057 at the 2010 census. History Airport Immediately west of Burns Flat is Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark which is a licensed spaceport. The facility ...

. On January 24, 2006 Rocketplane Limited announced a Space Act agreement with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

for the loan of a

Rocketdyne Rocketdyne was an American rocket engine design and production company headquartered in Canoga Park, California, Canoga Park, in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, in southern California. The Rocke ...

RS-88 The RS-88 is a liquid-fueled rocket engine burning ethanol as fuel, and using liquid oxygen (LOX) as the oxidizer. It was designed and built by Rocketdyne, originally for the NASA Bantam System Technology program (1997). In 2003, it was designa ...

rocket engine for three years, for use in flight tests of the XP vehicle.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Belfiore, Michael
"It's a Rocket! It's a Plane! It's...Rocket Plane!"
''Popular Science'', January 8, 2006.

''Rocketplane XP,'' February 21, 2011.

External links

Rocketplane official websiteVideo animation - Rocketplane XP concept
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocketplane Xp Mixed-power aircraft Rocket-powered aircraft Spaceplanes Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States XP Low-wing aircraft

Design and development

See also

References

External links