The Lockheed Martin X-33 was a proposed uncrewed, sub-scale technology demonstrator suborbital spaceplane that was developed for a period in the 1990s. The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for the VentureStar orbital spaceplane, which was planned to be a next-generation, commercially operated reusable launch vehicle .

On July 2, 1996, NASA selected Lockheed Martin to design, build, and fly the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator test vehicle. The X-33, a half-scale vehicle, was to feature a lifting-body shape, a new "aerospike" rocket engine, and a rugged metallic thermal protection system.

2006年1月4日 · Taking shape at Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works facility, the X-33 was intended to be a 1/3 scale prototype of a fully-operational RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle) called the VentureStar, designed to...

2016年2月17日 · The X-33, a half-scale vehicle, was expected to feature a lifting-body shape, a new "aerospike" rocket engine, and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. NASA selected Lockheed Martin to design, build, and fly the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator test vehicle between March and December 1999.

2001年6月25日 · While X-33’s future is still in limbo pending a U.S. Air Force decision on whether to pick up the program, low-level testing of the engines has continued with $3.8 million in funding from NASA...

2021年7月8日 · X-33 was the sub-scale prototype version of the Single Stage to Orbit Venture Star. It was wedge shaped X-33. It was developed jointly between NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works of Palmdale, California. X-33 was cancelled in 2001.

NASA-sponsored suborbital unmanned prototype for a single-stage-to-orbit rocketplane. The Lockheed Martin vehicle would have used a linear aerospike engine, metallic insulation, and other features similar to their Starclipper shuttle proposal of 1971.

2023年10月17日 · The reusable, lifting-body-shaped X-33, called VentureStar, was be about half the size of a full-scale RLV. The X-33 was not take payloads into space. X-33 was to be launched vertically and to land horizontally on a run way. It was to use a new linear aerospike engine (J-2S), which was based on the J-2 engine of the Saturn-5. NASA considered ...

2009年9月26日 · The most significant project under the umbrella of the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) was the Lockheed Martin X-33 announced in 1996. The ultimate goal of the X-33 was to develop a completely reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle to replace the aging Space Shuttle by about 2010.

2014年2月28日 · The X-33 program began in 1994 as part of NASA’s Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program. It awarded a contract to Lockheed Martin to build and fly an uncrewed technology demonstrator. Much of the vehicle was entirely new, including the linear aerospace rocket motor and the composite cryogenic propellant tanks.