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.

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 · 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. The leap exceeded what existing and developing technology could support.

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 to...

Jun 25, 2001 · WASHINGTON — The powerful linear aerospike engines intended for the orphaned X-33 experimental rocket could rumble to life this summer under an agreement being hammered out between NASA and the...

a focus the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) vehicle. The X-33 is an integrated ground and flight operations d. monstration of the critical technologies required for a SSTO RLV. The technology development and demonstration activities will be focused on flight.

X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle Demonstrator, Spaceport and Range The X-33 was a suborbital reusable spaceplane demonstrator, in development from 1996 to early 2001. The intent of the demonstrator was to lower the risk of building and operating a full-scale reusable vehicle fleet.

Jul 8, 2021 · It was developed jointly between NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works of Palmdale, California. X-33 was cancelled in 2001. 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.

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 single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle. Artist's depiction of the VentureStar in flight (NASA)

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.