XS-1 (spacecraft)
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The DARPA XS-1 was an experimental
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 ...
/booster with the planned capability to deliver small
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...
s into orbit for the
U.S. Military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
. It was reported to be designed to be reusable as frequently as once a day, with a stated goal of doing so for 10 days straight. The XS-1 was intended to directly replace the first stage of a
multistage rocket A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage i ...
by taking off vertically and flying to hypersonic speed and high suborbital altitude, enabling one or more expendable upper stages to separate and deploy a payload into
low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
. The XS-1 would then return to Earth, where it could ostensibly be serviced fast enough to repeat the process at least once every 24 hours. The DARPA XS-1 program operated 2013–2020. After several years of refinement and proposals, in May 2017, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected Boeing for Phase 2/3 to build and test an XS-1 spacecraft (now called the Experimental Spaceplane program). At the time, test flights were scheduled to start no earlier than 2020. On 22 January 2020, it was announced that Boeing was ceasing its role in the program, effectively ending it.


History

DARPA created the XS-1 program (later renamed to the Experimental Spaceplane Program), with the intent to increase national security by inventing a new, inexpensive, short-notice form of
hypersonic aircraft Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about 90 km at speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds of Mach 25+ have been achieved ...
. They promoted concepts such as reaching a
Low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...
within days,
unmanned An uncrewed vehicle or unmanned vehicle is a vehicle without a person on board. Uncrewed vehicles can either be under telerobotic control—remote controlled or remote guided vehicles—or they can be autonomously controlled—autonomous vehicl ...
reusable rockets, external boosters being replaced by internal, self-contained cryogenic propelled boosters, the ability to deploy 900 - 3,000 lb (408 - 1361 kg) payloads into
polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of about ...
, composite-metallic wings that could withstand
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 ...
hypersonic flight and temperatures exceeding 3,000°F (1649°C), autonomous flight technology developed by DARPA's Airborne Launch Assist Space Access (ALASA) program, and reaching Mach 10. The XS-1 program followed several previous failed attempts to develop a reusable space launch vehicle. The
Rockwell X-30 The Rockwell X-30 was an advanced technology demonstrator project for the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP), part of a United States project to create a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spacecraft and passenger spaceliner. Started in 1986, it was canc ...
in the 1980s and
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 plan ...
VentureStar VentureStar was a single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch system proposed by Lockheed Martin and funded by the U.S. government. The goal was to replace the Space Shuttle by developing a re-usable spaceplane that could launch satellites into orbit ...
in the 1990s never flew because of immature technologies. DARPA's last attempt was th
Responsive Access, Small Cargo, Affordable Launch
(RASCAL) program in the early 2000s with the goal of placing payloads in orbit for less than $750,000. The XS-1 program was announced in November 2013 at a DARPA industry day. DARPA stated that the XS-1 was more feasible due to better technologies, including light and low-cost composite airframe and tank structures, durable thermal protection, reusable and affordable propulsion, and aircraft-like health management systems. Jess Sponable, the XS-1 program manager, spoke on February 5, 2014, at NASA's Future In-Space Operations group, stating, "The vision here is to break the cycle of escalating space system costs, enable routine space access and hypersonic vehicles." By July 2014, three companies were awarded contracts to design a demonstration vehicle. The selected companies were
Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
with
Blue Origin Blue Origin, LLC is an American private spaceflight, privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Am ...
,
Masten Space Systems Masten Space Systems was an aerospace manufacturer startup company in Mojave, California (formerly in Santa Clara, California) that was developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets, initially for uncrewed research sub- ...
with
XCOR Aerospace XCOR Aerospace was an American private spaceflight and rocket engine development company based at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, Midland International Air and Space Port, Midland International Air and Spaceport in Midland, T ...
, and
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
with
Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company i ...
. Unlike other DARPA programs that were handed off to parts of the
United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
once proven successful, this initiative was designed from the start to be a direct partnership between the agency and industry. In August 2015, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Masten Space Systems all received additional funding from DARPA to continue their design concepts for Phase 1B of the program. , the first XS-1 orbital mission was planned to occur as early as 2020. DARPA began Phase 2 of the XS-1 program in April 2016. In July 2016, DARPA stated that they believed "the time is right for a renewed effort, one that began in 2013/14, but n 2016 wasramped up through a solicitation process, allowing for several industry concepts to be created. Per the olicitationrequirements, the winged craft equirements would continue to need tobe capable of performing 10 flights in 10 days, with a payload capacity greater than 3,000 lbs for a cost of less than $5 million USD per flight." In May 2017, DARPA selected Boeing for Phase 2/3 to build and test the XS-1 (now called the Experimental Spaceplane program)."DARPA Picks Design for Next-Generation Spaceplane" May 2017
/ref> The phase 2/3 contract included $146 million in DARPA funding and an unspecified contribution by the company."Boeing’s Phantom Express Vanishes into Thin Air".
parabolicarc.com, 22 Jan 2020.
On 22 January 2020, DARPA announced that Boeing was pulling out of the XS-1 program "immediately" and effectively ending the program."Boeing drops out of DARPA Experimental Spaceplane program"
Space News, 22 January 2020.


Program goals

The goals of the program were: The space plane must carry a payload to low Earth orbit for less than a cost of per flight, at a rate of 10 or more flights per year; currently, launching that type of payload requires using an
Orbital Sciences Corporation Orbital Sciences Corporation (commonly referred to as Orbital) was an American company specializing in the design, manufacture, and launch of small- and medium- class space and launch vehicle systems for commercial, military and other governmen ...
Minotaur IV Minotaur IV, also known as Peacekeeper SLV and OSP-2 PK is an active expendable launch system derived from the LGM-118 Peacekeeper ICBM. It is operated by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, and made its maiden flight on 22 April 2010, carrying ...
expendable booster, priced at $55 million once per year. *
hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...
flight to or higher * fast one-day turnaround time, including flying 10 times in 10 days * a payload on a
trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete traj ...
to
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...
* launch cost less than 1/10 that of current launch systems, approximately per flight * uncrewed vehicle * utilize a reusable first stage booster to fly at hypersonic speeds to a suborbital altitude, coupled with one or more expendable upper stages that would separate and deploy a satelliteNorthrop Grumman Developing XS-1 Spaceplane For DARPA
- Spacedaily.com, 20 August 2014


Entrants and selection

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, and Masten Space Systems have Phase 1 conceptual design contracts. Boeing performed trade studies with
Blue Origin Blue Origin, LLC is an American private spaceflight, privately funded aerospace manufacturer and sub-orbital spaceflight services company headquartered in Kent, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Am ...
initially. Boeing's design would allow the autonomous booster to carry the second stage and payload to high altitude and deploy them into space. The booster would then return to Earth, where it could be quickly prepared for the next flight by applying operation and maintenance principles similar to modern aircraft.
Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense technology company. With 90,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $30 billion, it is one of the world's largest weapons manufacturers and military techn ...
used its aircraft, spacecraft, and autonomous systems experience to work with its team consisting of
Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to develo ...
to lead fabrication and assembly, and
Virgin Galactic Virgin Galactic is an American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and his British Virgin Group retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company i ...
to head commercial spaceplane operations and transition; Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites both worked on the
SpaceShip Two The Scaled Composites Model 339 SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is an air-launched suborbital spaceplane type designed for space tourism. It is manufactured by The Spaceship Company, a California-based company owned by Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo is carr ...
, the world's only commercial spaceline. The team also leveraged technologies developed during related projects for DARPA, NASA, and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory to give the government "return on those investments." Their concept included a clean-pad launch using a
transporter erector launcher A transporter erector launcher (TEL) is a missile vehicle with an integrated tractor unit that can carry, elevate to firing position and launch one or more missiles. History Such vehicles exist for both surface-to-air missiles and surface-to-su ...
with minimal infrastructure and ground crews, highly autonomous flight operations, and horizontal landing and recovery on standard runways.
Masten Space Systems Masten Space Systems was an aerospace manufacturer startup company in Mojave, California (formerly in Santa Clara, California) that was developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets, initially for uncrewed research sub- ...
has experience in rapid reusable rocket-powered vehicles, with their Xombie, Xoie, and Xaero vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) designs having already met or exceeded the 10 flights in 10 days objective set by the program. Although the company consists of approximately 30 employees and is headquartered in a small building at the
Mojave Air and Space Port The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a sp ...
, they have spent years flying various small VTVL systems on short hops at the spaceport, serving as test beds for guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) systems designed to safely land spacecraft on the Moon and potentially other planets. Their concept showed a VTVL system taking off vertically from a launch pad with wings and a tail fin. Masten Space Systems was partnered with XCOR Aerospace for Phase 1A. ;Phase 2 & 3: In May 2017 Boeing was selected to partner with DARPA to build the XS-1.
Aerojet Rocketdyne Aerojet Rocketdyne is an American manufacturer of rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company is owned by Aeroj ...
was to provide AR-22 engines, derived from the
RS-25 The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine that was used on NASA's Space Shuttle and is currently used on the Space Launch System (SLS). Designed and manufactu ...
engine, for the spacecraft. The phase 2/3 contract to build and fly the prototype included of DARPA funding.


Boeing XS-1 Phantom Express

The Boeing design was a vertical takeoff, horizontal landing (
VTHL Aircraft can have different ways to take off and land. Conventional airplanes accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift (force), lift is generated for takeoff, and reverse the process to landing, land. Some airplanes can take off at low spe ...
) craft called Phantom Express. The planned specifications include a vehicle height of , with a wingspan. The Phantom express was to use an
Aerojet Rocketdyne Aerojet Rocketdyne is an American manufacturer of rocket, Hypersonic flight, hypersonic, and electric propulsive systems for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, the company is owned by Aeroj ...
AR-22 The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25, also known as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine that was used on NASA's Space Shuttle and is currently used on the Space Launch System (SLS). Designed and manufacture ...
engine, which was originally built for the Space Shuttle program, but has been modified to be reused ten times within ten days, for less than $5 million per launch. This performance requirement was demonstrated on a test stand in July 2018. On 22 January 2020, it was announced that Boeing was ceasing its role in the program, effectively ending it.


See also

*
Airborne Launch Assist Space Access Airborne Launch Assist Space Access, or DARPA ALASA is a canceled program of the US defense technology agency DARPA "designed to produce a rocket capable of launching a 100-pound satellite into low Earth orbit for less than $1 million." The progr ...
*
Baikal (rocket booster) The Baikal booster (russian: Байкал) was a proposed reusable flyback booster for the Angara rocket family based on the Angara Universal Rocket Module in 2001. It was designed by the Molniya Research and Industrial Corporation (NPO Molniya ...
*
Boeing X-37 The Boeing X-37, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), is a reusable robotic spacecraft. It is boosted into space by a launch vehicle, then re-enters Earth's atmosphere and lands as a spaceplane. The X-37 is operated by the United Stat ...
*
Boeing X-51 The Boeing X-51 Waverider is an unmanned research scramjet experimental aircraft for hypersonic flight at and an altitude of . The aircraft was designated X-51 in 2005. It completed its first powered hypersonic flight on 26 May 2010. After t ...
*
DARPA Falcon Project The DARPA Falcon Project (Force Application and Launch from Continental United States) is a two-part joint project between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the United States Air Force (USAF) and is part of Prompt Global ...
*
Liquid fly-back booster Liquid Fly-back Booster (LFBB) was a German Aerospace Center's (DLR's) project concept to develop a liquid rocket booster capable of reusing for Ariane 5 in order to significantly reduce the high cost of space transportation and increase envir ...
, 1999-2004 study for Ariane *
NASA X-43 The NASA X-43 was an experimental unmanned hypersonic aircraft with multiple planned scale variations meant to test various aspects of hypersonic flight. It was part of the X-plane series and specifically of NASA's Hyper-X program. It set seve ...
*
Reusable Booster System The Reusable Booster System (RBS) was a United States Air Force research program, circa 2010 to 2012, to develop a new prototype vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) reusable booster and a new prototype expendable second stage to replace t ...
, USAF project 2010 to 2012 *
RLV-TD RLV-TD is India's first uncrewed flying testbed developed for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstration Programme. It is a scaled down prototype of an eventual two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) reusa ...
*
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 ...
*
Single-stage-to-orbit A single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body using only propellants and fluids and without expending tanks, engines, or other major hardware. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles ...
(SSTO)


References


External links


Boeing Phantom Express
official site
DARPA XS-1 artist concept animation video
2014.
Masten Space Systems, Inc. award notice
, US government document, June 27, 2014. DARPA XS-1 artist concept animation video {{Spaceplanes DARPA projects Former proposed space launch system concepts Spaceplanes Proposed reusable launch systems