VentureStar

VentureStar was Lockheed-Martin's proposed design for a SSTO RLV. The program's primary goal was to develop a reusable unmanned space plane for launching satellites into orbit at about 1/10 the cost of other systems that would completely replace the space shuttle. While the requirement was for an unmanned launcher, it was expected to optionally carry passengers as cargo. The Venture Star was hoped to provide rapid turn-around and low cost launches with a modular system. It would have also used a new metallic thermal protection system that would be safer and cheaper to maintain than the ceramic one on the Space Shuttle. It was to be a single stage to orbit vehicle that would take off vertically and land like an airplane. The design specifications also called for it to use Linear aerospike engines, which can provide high efficiency thrust at all altitudes. VentureStar was to be a commercial endeavor and flights would have been leased to NASA as needed. Image:X-33 Venture Star. ... Image:X-33 Venture Star. ... Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is an aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ... A single-stage to orbit (or SSTO) launcher describes an as-yet theoretical class of spacecraft designed to place a load into orbit as a self-contained vehicle without the use of multiple stages. ... A reusable launch system (or RLV: reusable launch vehicle) is a launch vehicle which is capable of launching into space more than once. ... A spaceplane is a rocket plane designed to pass the edge of space. ... The Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System (TPS) is the barrier that protects the space shuttle during the searing 3000° F (1649° C) heat of atmospheric reentry. ... The Space Shuttle Columbia seconds after engine ignition, 1981 (NASA). ... A single-stage to orbit (or SSTO) launcher describes an as-yet theoretical class of spacecraft designed to place a load into orbit as a self-contained vehicle without the use of multiple stages. ... RS-2200 linear aerospike engine for the X-33 program being tested. ...

A small-scale prototype of VentureStar, co-funded by NASA and called the X-33 was underway when the program was cancelled on March 1, 2001. The X-33 was plagued by test failures, schedule setbacks, and cost-overruns, which contributed to its cancellation. Additionally, some of the new technologies required (such as composite fuel tanks and metallic heat shields) had failed to develop as needed. The composite fuel tank suffered a blowout during a pressure test, and delays in the aerospike development led NASA and Lockheed to switch over to aluminum tanks and conventional rocket engines before it was cancelled. Over US$1 billion was spent before the program was stopped. After the cancellation, engineers were able to make a working Oxygen tank out of Carbon Fiber Composite. NASA logo Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from an article revision dated 2005-09-01, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for NASAs next-generation of space launch vehicle. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

With the demise of the X-33 test program, plans to build the full size VentureStar follow-on were scrapped.

The VentureStar in Fiction

In John Varley's science fiction novel, Red Thunder the Venture Star is featured as the main spacecraft in use by a United States of America set in the near future and was making daily flights into orbit from Cape Canaveral. John Herbert Varley (born August 9, 1947 in Austin, Texas) is a science fiction author. ... This article or section needs to be wikified. ... Cape Canaveral from space, August 1991 Cape Canaveral (Cabo Cañaveral in Spanish) is a strip of land in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of that states Atlantic coast. ...

In the Opening Credits of Star Trek Enterprise, the Venture Star is seen veering away from the international space station's docking port. The starship Enterprise (NX-01) Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. ...

See Also

Lockheed Martin X-33 Comparision Prototypes Internal configuration On the launchpad The X-33 was a subscale technology demonstrator for a next-generation, commercially operated reusable launch vehicle named VentureStar. ...