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 .

Jan 4, 2006 · 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...

Feb 17, 2016 · 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.

Feb 28, 2014 · 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.

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.

May 3, 2023 · Lockheed Martin's X-33 was a technology demonstrator of the VentureStar orbital spaceplane funded by NASA in the 1990s. Part of the Space Launch Initiative, the X-33's ultimate goal was to prove the feasibility of a completely reusable …

Jul 8, 2021 · The X-33 was designed to take off vertically like a rocket, reaching an altitude of up to 60 miles and speeds faster than Mach 13 (13 times the speed of sound), and landing horizontally like an airplane.

Feb 1, 2014 · The X-33 design was based on a lifting body shape with two revolutionary “linear aerospike” rocket engines and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. The vehicle also was to have had lightweight components and fuel tanks built to conform to the vehicle’s outer shape.

Oct 17, 2023 · 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 ...

The X-33, NASA's flagship for reusable space plane technology demonstration, is on course to permit a cru- cial decision for the nation by the end of this decade.