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DARPA Heads to Orbit

The defense research organization taps Boeing for a spaceplane with rapid readiness.

DARPA’s Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program seeks to build and fly the first of an entirely new class of hypersonic aircraft.

Seeking a quick launch capability, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is opting for a hybrid satellite launcher that takes off vertically, hurls a payload into orbit and then lands horizontally like an aircraft. The Experimental Spaceplane, or XS-1, somewhat resembles the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane but uses recycled space shuttle engines for primary propulsion.

The Boeing Company, manufacturer of the X-37B, has been tapped by DARPA to complete advanced design work for the XS-1. DARPA’s goal is a spacecraft that could be readied to launch satellites in a matter of hours or days instead of months or years. This type of vehicle would be able to provide rapid replacement for military or commercial satellites that are lost suddenly, as from enemy action.

The XS-1 will use adapted off-the-shelf space shuttle main engines (SSMEs) from Aerojet Rocketdyne. Designated AR-22, these engines are being assembled from parts in the inventories of both Aerojet Rocketdyne and NASA SSMEs. A single engine will power the winged spaceplane above the Earth’s atmosphere. A separate expendable rocket riding on the spaceplane then will boost the satellite into low earth orbit.

The spaceplane first will be tested in hypersonic flight beginning in 2020. After demonstration flights as fast as Mach 10, the craft will be fitted for satellite launch and ultimately deliver a payload as heavy as 3,000 pounds into low earth orbit. A total of 12 to 15 flight tests will be conducted, with DARPA aiming to achieve 10 flights in 10 days.

DARPA also intends to migrate XS-1 technology into the commercial sector. The agency believes that it could help lower the cost of satellite launches to as little as $5 million each, which is a magnitude lower than that of current launch technologies.