Orbital Sciences X-34
| Orbital Sciences X-34 | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Description | ||
| Role | Technology Testbed | |
| Crew | Unmanned | |
| First Flight | June 29, 1999 (carried by a Lockheed L-1011) | |
| Manufacturer | Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA | |
| Dimensions | ||
| Length | 58 ft | 17.7 m |
| Wingspan | 28 ft | 8.5 m |
| Height | 12 ft | 3.7 m |
| Wing area | 358 ft² | 33.3 m² |
| Weights | ||
| Empty | 18,000 lb | 8,200 kg |
| Gross | 48,000 lb | 21,800 kg |
The Orbital Sciences X-34 was intended as a low-cost testbed to demonstrate "key technologies" integratable to the Reusable Launch Vehicle program.
It was intended to be an autonomous pilotless craft powered by a Fastrac rocket engine capable of reaching Mach 8, and performing 25 test flights per year. However the unpowered prototype had only been used for towing and captive flight tests when the project was cancelled in 2001 on cost grounds. However, there is a possibility of using a scaled-up version of the X-34 as a hotel shuttle to a space hotel in the future. It would operate very similarly to the space shuttle; it will take off like a rocket, mated with two rocket boosters and an external fuel tank, dock with the space hotel like the shuttle does with the International Space Station, and land on a runway, the same way as an airplane. Even the overall design is very similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey 's Pan Am Orbital Clipper, the Orion III.
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Related development:
Comparable aircraft:
Designation Series: X-31 -X-32 -X-33 -X-34 -X-35 -X-36 -X-37
See also:
X-1 • X-2 • X-3 • X-4 • X-5 • X-6 • X-7 • X-8 • X-9 • X-10 • X-11 • X-12 • X-13 • X-14 • X-15 • X-16 • X-17 • X-18 • X-19 • X-20 • X-21 • X-22 • X-23 • X-24 • X-25 • X-26 • X-27 • X-28 • X-29 • X-30 • X-31 • X-32 • X-33 • X-34 • X-35 • X-36 • X-37 • X-38 • X-39 • X-40 • X-41 • X-42 • X-43 • X-44 • X-45 • X-46 • X-47 • X-48 • X-49 • X-50 • X-51
See also List of experimental aircraft
Categories
Spaceplanes | U.S. experimental aircraft 2000-2009