DARPA's Space Plane goals to lessen cost of satellite launches by 5 times
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is on a mission to make the first cost-efficient and futuristic satellite to launch a space plane. DARPA has spared no expense into making sure the development of Experimental Spaceplane, or more simply known as XS-1, is kicked into full gear.
According to Techtimes, the agency has allotted around $20 million to three aerospace companies in hopes of bringing the concept to life. One of the planned features is a speed of at least Mach 10, allowing the space plane to travel for more than 12,000 miles per hour. The report states that the three companies given $6.5 million each were Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and Masten Space Science Systems.
Boeing has already worked with NASA and DARPA before on a space plane called X-37B. The difference between the X-37B and the XS-1 would mostly be on the way they are launched into space. The X-37B needs to be sitting as a passenger on a conventional Atlas V rocket, before it can get into space to maneuver and land itself. On the other hand, the XS-1 will no longer need a rocket's assistance and will not orbit space anymore. XS-1 will be able to launch from the ground just like a space shuttle, go into space, send of the satellites to the orbit, and make a return landing on Earth. The space plane will be designed much like how business jets today are in terms of physical size and weight, and will fly 10 times in 10 days with the capability to carry 3,000-5,000 small satellites.
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The space plane's main goal is to be reusable in launching satellites into space every day. After last year's debacle on the $400 million launch charges by United Launch Alliance for sending U.S. military satellites, SpaceX then took the opportunity to seal the deal by offering less than $100 million for the task. However, if the XS-1 project is successful, then it would only cost $5 million apiece, reducing the cost to about 92 percent to 99 percent, compared to the previous two companies' offers. This would be a dramatic saving to space launches.
