National Aerospace Plane
| X-30 NASP | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Artist's Concept of the X-30 entering orbit | |
| Role | Single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spaceplane |
| Manufacturer | Rockwell International |
| Status | Cancelled in 1993 |
| Primary user | NASA |
The Rockwell X-30 was an advanced technology demonstrator project for the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP), part of a United States project to create a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spacecraft and passenger spaceliner. It was cancelled in the early 1990s before a prototype was completed, although much development work in advanced materials and aerospace design was completed. While a goal of a future NASP was a passenger liner capable of two-hour flights from Washington to Tokyo, the X-30 was planned for a crew of two and oriented towards testing.
The NASP concept is thought to have been derived from the "Copper Canyon" project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), from 1982 to 1985. In his 1986 State of the Union Address, President Ronald Reagan called for "a new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport, accelerate up to 25 times the speed of sound, attaining low earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours."
Research suggested a maximum speed of Mach 8 for scramjet based aircraft, as the vehicle would generate heat due to atmospheric friction, which would expend considerable energy. The project showed that much of this energy could be recovered by passing hydrogen over the skin and carrying the heat into the combustion chamber: Mach 20 then seemed possible. The result was a program funded by NASA, and the United States Department of Defense (funding was approximately equally divided among NASA, DARPA, the US Air Force, the Strategic Defense Initiative Office (SDIO) and the US Navy).
In April 1986 McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell International, and General Dynamics were awarded contracts (each no more than $35 M) to develop technology for a hypersonic air-breathing SSTO vehicle/airframe.Rocketdyne and Pratt & Whitney were each awarded contracts of $175 M to develop engines/propulsion. The airframe contractors would compete and two or three would be eliminated after a year. The plan was that 42 months later (end of 1989), contracts would be awarded to build the flight demonstrator vehicle.
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