Lockheed Martin X-33

Basics

• A Technnology Demonstrator for the Proposed Replacement for the Space SHuttle, the VentureStar
• A Suborbital Spaceplane Utilizing a Linear Aerospike Engine, Composite Fuel Tanks, and a Lifting Body Design
• Ran into Problems with funding, and some design issues (mainly the composite tanks, although this technology has improved since)
• Project occured from the 1990's to the early 2000's
• Cancelled in 2001
• There could also be aluminium tanks that were sucessfully pressure tested as an alternative to the composite ones, although dogmatic issues made this a non option, even though they technically worked
• The composite tanks were sucussfully tested in 2004

See Also

• Open Source Spacecraft Construction Set
• VentureStar

Useful Links

• The Wikipedia Page on the Lockheed Martin X-33
• A Curious Droid Video on The Lockheed Martin X-33