![]() Simulated view of VentureStar in low Earth orbit, having released its payload | |
Function | Crewed Re-usable Spaceplane |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Lockheed Martin |
Country of origin | United States |
Size | |
Height | 38.7 m (127 ft)[1] |
Diameter | 39.0 m (128.0 ft)[2] |
Mass | 1,000,000 kg (2,200,000 lb)[1] |
Stages | 1 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 20,000 kg (44,000 lb)[1] |
Launch history | |
Status | Cancelled |
Launch sites | Kennedy, LC-39A |
Total launches | 0 |
First stage – VentureStar | |
Powered by | 7 Rocketdyne RS-2200 Linear Aerospikes[1] |
Maximum thrust | 3,010,000 lbf (13.4 MN)[1] |
Propellant | LOX/LH2[1] |
VentureStar was a single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch system proposed by Lockheed Martin and funded by the U.S. government. The goal was to replace the Space Shuttle by developing a re-usable spaceplane that could launch satellites into orbit at 1/10th of the cost. While the requirement was for an uncrewed launcher, it was expected to carry passengers as cargo. The VentureStar would have had a wingspan of 68 feet (20.7 m), a length of 127 feet (38.7 m), and would have weighed roughly 1000 t (2.2 million lb).
VentureStar was intended to be a commercial single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that would be launched vertically, but return to Earth as an airplane. Flights would have been leased to NASA as needed. After failures with the X-33 subscale technology demonstrator test vehicle, funding was cancelled in 2001.
VentureStar was essentially a bigger version of the X-33 but was not produced.[3] The X-33 had ongoing problems meeting performance requirements for the carbon fiber hydrogen fuel tank.[3] There were a number of other technologies that were part of the program, including the linear aerospike rocket engine. One point of praise was the metallic thermal protection system developed by BF Goodrich.[3]