spacetoday.net: NASA to delay X-37 test flight

Posted: Mon, Dec 15, 2003, 11:53 AM ET (1653 GMT)
X-37 illustration (NASA/MSFC)

NASA plans to delay a planned 2006 launch of its X-37 technology demonstrator because of a lack of funding, Space News and Aviation Week reported Monday. NASA had planned to launch the X-37 in 2006 on an Atlas 5 and Delta 4; the vehicle would spend up to 270 days in orbit before reentering and landing on a runway. However, a lack of funding for the program prevents NASA from both funding the development of the orbital X-37 vehicle as well as carry out drop tests of a separate atmospheric test vehicle. Structural problems with the wings on the atmospheric test vehicle, as well as "typical development issues" with new vehicles, led to cost growth that caused the funding problem. The drop tests, scheduled to begin in late 2004 using a B-52 aircraft, are still scheduled to take place, while work on the orbital version of the vehicle will be delayed until NASA can find additional funding. The agency hopes to be able to allocate additional funds to the X-37 as part of an effort to accelerate the Orbital Space Plane project by two years. The X-37 program, which started in 1999 as a cooperative venture between Boeing and NASA with some Air Force involvement, is designed to test technologies that could be used in a future reusable launch vehicle or space maneuver vehicle.