Boeing won the contract to build the DARPA spaceplane:
http://spacenews.com/darpa-selects-boeing-for-spaceplane-project/
http://spaceflight101.com/boeing-darpa-reveal-phantom-express-space-plane-design/
The Phantom Express vehicle will take off vertically, with an upper stage carrying a satellite payload mounted on top of the fuselage. After releasing the upper stage, the suborbital vehicle would glide back to a runway landing. Phantom Express is powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne engine designated the AR-22, based on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). This is similar to the engines on SLS--which is also ramping up:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/maf-push-sls-full-thrust/
Sounds like something like the Rockwell X-33 concept will fly, after all:
http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/x/x33rock.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~chadslattery/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/x-33trio.jpg
One individual wondered if you could place the X-37 mil-space-plane on it.
That won't happen as "whatever is used as a 2nd stage will need 5-6(?) km/s of delta-v to achieve orbit. " Discussion here: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32829.580
VECTOR gets the upper stage--to be launched piggyback: https://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/867518742552432640
Price? $146M by accounts. A new X-plane, it seems
DARPA also looks to be working on ways to design things more simply:
http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-05-17
I hope they share this with others.
Heck, some Trek Blueprinters might be helped by this.
http://spacenews.com/darpa-selects-boeing-for-spaceplane-project/
http://spaceflight101.com/boeing-darpa-reveal-phantom-express-space-plane-design/
The Phantom Express vehicle will take off vertically, with an upper stage carrying a satellite payload mounted on top of the fuselage. After releasing the upper stage, the suborbital vehicle would glide back to a runway landing. Phantom Express is powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne engine designated the AR-22, based on the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). This is similar to the engines on SLS--which is also ramping up:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/05/maf-push-sls-full-thrust/
Sounds like something like the Rockwell X-33 concept will fly, after all:
http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/x/x33rock.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~chadslattery/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/x-33trio.jpg
One individual wondered if you could place the X-37 mil-space-plane on it.
That won't happen as "whatever is used as a 2nd stage will need 5-6(?) km/s of delta-v to achieve orbit. " Discussion here: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=32829.580
VECTOR gets the upper stage--to be launched piggyback: https://twitter.com/vectorspacesys/status/867518742552432640
Price? $146M by accounts. A new X-plane, it seems
DARPA also looks to be working on ways to design things more simply:
http://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2017-05-17
I hope they share this with others.
Heck, some Trek Blueprinters might be helped by this.
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