Why not just build the VentureStar or the Orbital Space Plane?

      After the end of the DC-XA program NASA held a competition to choose the concept that was to replace the Shuttle fleet as the primary launch vehicle used by the agency. Lockheed Martin won the contract for the X-33 with their VentureStar concept. The X-33 was to use many new technologies, including a linear aerospike rocket engine and a new composite cryogenic fuel tank. The aerospike engine was test fired on the ground but was never flown. The new tank failed structural tests.

      NASA’s next move was to initiate the SLI program. The flight hardware that is supposed to be a result of the studies is called the Orbital Space Plane (OSP). The OSP is essentially a reusable astronaut ferry that is launched by placing it atop an existing expendable launch vehicle like the Boeing Delta series rockets [8]. The OSP has little cargo capacity. Expendable rockets are to provide cargo ferry services in this vision of the future.

      The X-33 was supposed to have operated much like an airline. The OSP abandons the idea of such operations. In order to usher in a new era of space exploration the concept of rockets being operated similarly to the commercial airline business must be developed. This is why the Delta Clipper is an idea choice for further development. It has been designed from the beginning with those goals in mind, and it has demonstrated these ideas in flying hardware.

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