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 · 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.

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...

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 …

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...

Feb 1, 2014 · The X-33 was to have been an unpiloted vehicle that took off vertically like a rocket and landed horizontally like an airplane. It was planned to reach altitudes of up to 50 miles and high hypersonic speeds.

Jul 8, 2021 · 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.

Sep 26, 2009 · Lockheed Martin X-33 history, specifications, schematics, pictures, and data.