Photo:Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman along with Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic is developing a preliminary design for the Defen...
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| Photo:Northrop Grumman |
The design features a vertically launched reusable booster that is coupled with an expendable upper stage which carries the satellite into low Earth orbit.
DARPA has also awarded the 13-month preliminary design phase one contract, each valued at $3.9 million to Boeing with Blue Origin, and Masten Space Systems with XCOR Aerospace.
XS-1 will orbit a 3,000-pound class spacecraft into LEO. The reusable first stage would then return to earth for runway landing like an aircraft and be prepared for the next flight. A key program goal is to fly 10 times in 10 days using a minimal ground crew and infrastructure.
The reusability and aircraft-like operations would reduce military and commercial light spacecraft launch costs by a factor of 10 from current launch costs in this payload class.
The XS-1 will be launched using a transporter erector launcher (TEL), generally used for missile launch, and involving minimal infrastructure and ground crew. The spaceplane will also feature highly autonomous flight operations that leverage Northrop's unmanned aircraft systems experience.
The Scaled Composites of Mojave will lead the fabrication and assembly, and Virgin Galactic, the privately-funded spaceline, will head commercial spaceplane operations and transition.
In addition to low-cost launch, Northrop plans to use XS-1 as a test-bed for a new generation of hypersonic aircraft.
