Posted on 05/20/2017 4:50:35 PM PDT by BenLurkin
In Phase 1 of the XS-1 program, DARPA awarded prime contracts to three companies, each of which will work with a commercial launch provider: Boeing (working with Blue Origin), Masten Space Systems (working with XCOR Aerospace) and Northrop Grumman (working with Virgin Galactic).
However, the Phase 2 contractor won't necessarily be chosen from the three Phase 1 participants, according to the Air Force Magazine report.
The XS-1 space plane will consist of a reusable booster vehicle and an expendable upper stage.
According to the DARPA website, the XS-1 program has four primary technical goals:
+ Fly 10 times in a 10-day period, to demonstrate efficient, aircraft-like access to space.
+ Fly fast enough to allow the use of a small (and therefore cheap) expendable upper stage.
+ Launch a 900-lb. to 1,500-lb. (408 to 680 kilograms) payload, to demonstrate a launch capability that could support both military and commercial missions. The same XS-1 vehicle could eventually also launch future payloads in excess of 3,000 lbs. (1,360 kg), by using a larger upper stage.
+ Reduce the cost of access to space to about $5 million per flight for payloads of at least 3,000 lbs.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
just ask SpaceX to do it... duh
There is a reason SpaceX wasn’t listed or being used.
$5 mil/flight is an interesting number, because IIRC that's what one operational mission of the SR-71 cost near the end of the program.
“Fly 10 times in a 10-day period,”
I’ll believe it when I see it. The space shuttle had similar ambitious turn-around goals and never came close to achieving them.
Exciting times we live in.
Excess One?
Sweet
As long as it’s designed, engineered and sourced in the US, by a US owned company, built by US citizens, using US tooling, and parts procured built in the US, then I don’t care who the low cost bidder gets the contract
Drove by Blue Origin’s new building yesterday. Looks like a serious operation to me.
I did some consulting work on this last year. A big issue is a reusable, lightweight TPS that is water resistant and can be inspected as part of a 24-hour turnaround between launches.
What is TPS?
Thermal protection system. The tiles on the Space Shuttle are an example of TPS.
Okay
The reusable first stage of the Falcon 9 uses its own rocket exhaust as the main TPS when it does its re-entry burn.
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