The Orbital Sciences X-34 was intended to be a low-cost testbed for demonstrating "key technologies" that could be integrated into the
Reusable Launch Vehicle
A reusable launch vehicle have parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as rocket engines and boost ...
program. It was intended to be an autonomous pilotless craft powered by a "
Fastrac
Formation Autonomy Spacecraft with Thrust, Relnav, Attitude and Crosslink (or FASTRAC) is a pair of nanosatellites (respectively named ''Sara-Lily'' and ''Emma'') developed and built by students at The University of Texas at Austin. The project ...
"
liquid-propellant rocket
A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high Specific impulse, specific impulse (''I''sp). T ...
engine, capable of reaching
Mach 8 and performing 25 test flights per year.
The X-34 began as a program for 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 ...
reusable-rocket technology demonstrator. In early 2001, the first flight vehicle was near completion, but the program was ended due to budget concerns. Up to this point, the project had encompassed spending of just under $112 million: $85.7M from the original contract with designer Orbital Sciences, $16M from NASA and various government agencies for testing, and an additional $10M for Orbital Sciences to adapt its
L-1011
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, also known as the L-1011 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") and TriStar, is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter comme ...
carrier to accommodate the X-34. The program was officially canceled by NASA on March 31, 2001. The unpowered prototype had been used only for towing and captive flight tests when the project was canceled.
The two demonstrators remained in storage at
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
Orbital Sciences Corporation X-34 – 2007 photo
Airliners.net. until they were temporarily moved to Mojave, California
Mojave (formerly Mohave) is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, and north of Los Angeles, at an elevation of . The town is ...
, in late 2010. This prompted some speculation that they might be restored to flight status. As of April 2020, one of the fuselages was seen lying in parts in a scrapyard in nearby Rosamond, California
Rosamond is a unincorporated community in Kern County, California, US, near the Los Angeles county line. Rosamond is part of Greater Los Angeles and is located in the Mojave Desert just north of Lancaster and Palmdale, two of the largest cities ...
.
Gallery
File:X-34 at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center - GPN-2000-000185.jpg, On display outside Dryden Research Center
The NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. Its primary campus is located inside Edwards Air Force Base in California and is considered NASA's premier site for aeronautical rese ...
in 2000
File:X-34 Mated to Modified L-1011 - GPN-2000-000187.jpg, Mated to the modified L-1011 in 2000
File:Orbital sciences x34 2020-04-22 scrapyard04.jpg, A photo of one of the testbed fuselages in a scrapyard outside Edwards Air Force Base in April 2020
See also
* List of experimental aircraft
As used here, an experimental or research and development aircraft, sometimes also called an X-plane, is one which is designed or substantially adapted to investigate novel flight technologies.
Argentina
* FMA I.Ae. 37 glider – testbed for p ...
* Cygnus (spacecraft)
Cygnus is an expendable American cargo spacecraft developed by Orbital Sciences Corporation and now manufactured and launched by Northrop Grumman Space Systems as part of NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program. It is launched by North ...
* Lockheed Martin X-33
The Lockheed Martin X-33 was a proposed uncrewed, sub-scale technology demonstrator suborbital spaceplane that was developed for a period in the 1990s. The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for the VentureStar orbital spaceplane, which was pla ...
* Prometheus (spacecraft)
Prometheus was a proposed crewed vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) lifting body spaceplane concept put forward by Orbital Sciences Corporation in late 2010 as part of the second phase of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) progr ...
(CCdev)
* Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser
Dream Chaser is an American reusable lifting-body spaceplane being developed by Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems. Originally intended as a crewed vehicle, the Dream Chaser Space System is set to be produced after the cargo varia ...
(CCdev)
References
External links
*
NASA Dryden X-34 Technology Testbed Demonstrator Photo Collection
{{X-planes
Edwards Air Force Base
Spaceplanes
X-34, Orbital Sciences