Mar 1 2001
From The Space Library
NASA announced that it had canceled the X-33 rocket development project, an endeavor that many in the space industry had hoped would produce a vehicle to replace the Space Shuttle. NASA ended the five-year program after having invested nearly US$1 billion in developing a reusable launching vehicle. The X-33 program, contracted to Lockheed Martin Space Systems]] Company, had sought to build the world’s most technologically advanced space vehicle~ shaped like an arrowhead and protected by a heat-resistant metallic covering. Because of its capability to ascend to space without having to drop weight by discarding boosters after launch, the new vehicle would have significantly improved on the Shuttle. NASA officials had hoped that the X-33 would lead to development of the VentureStar vehicle, for transporting people and cargo into space. Operating at considerably less expense to NASA than the Space Shuttles, the VentureStar would permit more space missions per year. NASA’s decision to cut funding for the X-33 was part of its general effort to reduce its budget. NASA officials in charge of the Space Launch Initiative (SLI) had determined that, although the X-33 program had yielded significant new knowledge, it had not advanced to a point at which NASA engineers could readily implement the new technology. Arthur G. Stephenson, the Director of NASA’s MSFC, which had managed the program, called the decision to deny further funding “a very tough decision.” (NASA, “NASA Reaches Milestone in Space Launch Initiative Program; Also Announces No SLI Funding for X-33 or X-34,” news release 01-3 1, 1 March 2001; Warren E. Leary, “NASA Ends Project on Rocket Meant To Replace Space Shuttle,” New York Times, 2 March 2001; Kathy Sawyer, “NASA Kills $1.3 Billion Space Plane Project,” Washington Post, 2 March 2001; Los Angeles Times, “NASA Ends X-33 Project that Sought To Cut Spaceflight Costs,” 2 March 2001.)
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