Jul 14 1999
From The Space Library
The Boeing Company announced that it had completed negotiations on a cooperative agreement with NASA to develop an experimental space plane. The US$173 million contract stipulated that Boeing and the federal government share costs equally. Boeing and NASA hoped that the X-37 space plane, previously called the Future-X Pathfinder, would "serve as a test bed for new reusable launch technologies," helping to achieve the "goal of reducing the cost of placing space vehicles and cargo into orbit." Boeing envisioned a vehicle that would be "unpiloted, autonomously operated, and capable of speeds up to Mach 25, while demonstrating aircraft-like operations." NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center led the X-37 government team, comprising the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base and NASA facilities, including Ames Research Center, Kennedy Space Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Langley Research Center, and Dryden Flight Research Center.
Kazakhstan partially lifted its ban on launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome, permitting a Russian Progress cargo spacecraft to deliver supplies to the Mir space station. Kazakhstan had agreed to permit the Progress launch after receiving Russia's promise to pay a US$115 million fee for the use of the launch facility. Russia had agreed to pay US$50 million in cash by November 1999 and US$65 million in goods by 2000. Kazakhstan's launch ban on Proton-K rockets remained in effect.
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