Development of the first device from the "X" series began in July 1996. Then the American company Lockheed-Martin won a contract for the creation of a fundamentally new space shuttle, called Venture Star. At present, they are testing its improved model, called "X-33" and surrounded by a dense veil of secrecy - state and commercial. Only a few characteristics of the future device are known. Takeoff weight - 123 tons, length - 20 meters, width - 21.5 meters. Two engines of a fundamentally new design will allow the X-33 to exceed the speed of sound 15 times! The device is a cross between a spacecraft and a stratospheric aircraft.
According to some American ufologists, during the creation of the "X-33" technologies were used, borrowed from the crashed alien ships. This also applies to the unusual shape of the Kh-33 and its new engines. NASA leaves such statements without comment. But, undoubtedly, the X-33 will usher in a new era in astronautics … The design and construction of a new type of rocket ships, designed to replace the aging space shuttle shuttle, turned out to be much more difficult than expected. When work began on this experimental rocket program five years ago, pioneers at NASA and at aerospace firms announced that a new era was beginning in space. Rocket engines of the "X-33" type, based on the latest technical achievements, were to become the basis for new,comparatively cheap aircraft, which would provide a multiple reduction in the cost of space launches. The first such device was supposed to make a series of fifteen suborbital flights back in 1999, but unforeseen problems with the propulsion system, as well as the unexpected destruction of a fuel tank made of composite materials, pushed flights to 2003.
Although the supporters of this project believe that the main difficulties are already behind, NASA nevertheless began to come up with some alternative ways to create a new generation of spacecraft. For example, the US Congress last year allocated 4.5 billion dollars to develop reusable spacecraft that would replace the current "shuttle", improve flight safety and reduce the cost of launches by 90%. Part of this amount is intended for the design of small unmanned aerial vehicles capable of launching commercial cargo into space, as well as replenishing the supplies of water, food, oxygen needed by the International Space Station team. A sharp reduction in the cost of space launches should also play a decisive role in attracting funds from individuals and companies for the fastest commercial exploration of near-earth space.
“We need to test new ideas, new aircraft,” says Patricia Dash, executive director of the American Interplanetary Society, which has over twenty thousand members. In her opinion, NASA is not actively working on replacing space shuttles that have been flying for twenty years. This replacement needs to be done as soon as possible and the new ships are handed over to private hands so that NASA can focus exclusively on scientific research. As for the Kh-33 missiles, despite criticism, said Clion Lacefield, vice president of the main work of Lockheed-Martin, these missiles promise the fastest results today. Successful tests of such rockets will make it possible to build flying prototypes of new spacecraft already in 2010-2012.
The X-33 missile restructuring program was conceived as a joint state-industrial undertaking aimed at reducing the cost of delivering cargo to Earth orbits. In 1996, NASA allocated $ 940 million for this, to which Lockheed Martin added another $ 350 million. According to experts, "X-33" will revolutionize spacecraft that put satellites into low-earth orbit. The cost of one kilogram of cargo delivered to space by the X-33 will not exceed two thousand dollars. For comparison, it costs about 20 thousand dollars to put a kilogram of cargo into orbit on modern American shuttles. Even the Russian Soyuz and Proton complexes require about 4 thousand dollars per kilogram of cargo. Not to mention such systems as the French Ariane 44L,where the cost of one kilogram of cargo delivered to orbit exceeds 12 thousand. This is probably why Lockheed Martin feels so confident. Indeed, in a few years, their brainchild will turn into a gold mine.
The Kh-33 missile was designed as a blunt flat arrowhead. She was supposed to take off vertically, and re-enter the atmosphere horizontally, developing aerodynamic lift with her flat body, and land on the runway like an airplane. The Kh-33 was conceived as a single-stage, reusable aircraft, without disposable knockout assemblies such as the extra tank on the space shuttle.
Last September, NASA and Lockheed Martin agreed to continue work on the X-33. Project manager Jean Austin believes it makes sense to develop the project. And it's not just about the money spent:
- In the process of work, many innovations were created: a ship's hull was designed to develop lift, a unique thermal insulation system was invented for entering the atmosphere at cosmic speeds, and lightweight nozzleless rocket engines were successfully tested. Each such engine develops a thrust of about 94 thousand kilograms! “Ninety-five percent of the X-33's components and components have been successfully tested,” says Gene Austin, “so the most difficult problems are over.”
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