VentureStar

VentureStar

Simulated view of VentureStar in low Earth orbit
Function	Manned Re-usable Spaceplane
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	38.7 m (127 ft)
Diameter	N/A
Mass	1,000,000 kg (2,200,000 lb)
Stages	1
Capacity
Payload to LEO	20,412 kg (45,000 lb)
Launch history
Status	Cancelled
Launch sites	Unknown
Total launches	0
First stage - VentureStar
Engines	7 RS2200 Linear Aerospikes
Thrust	3,010,000 lb (13.39 MN)
Fuel	LOX/LH2

VentureStar was a single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch system proposed by Lockheed Martin and funded by the U.S. government. The goal was to replace the Space Shuttle by developing a re-usable spaceplane that could launch satellites into orbit at a fraction of the cost. While the requirement was for an unmanned launcher, it was expected to carry passengers as cargo. The VentureStar would have had a wingspan of 68 feet (20.7 m), a length of 127 feet (38.7 m), and would have weighed roughly 1000 t (2.2 million lb).

VentureStar was intended to be a commercial single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that would launch vertically, but return to Earth as an airplane. Flights would have been leased to NASA as needed. After failures with the X-33 subscale technology demonstrator test vehicle, funding was cancelled in 2001.

VentureStar was essentially a bigger version of the X-33 but was not produced. The X-33 had ongoing problems meeting performance requirements for the hydrogen carbon fiber fuel tank. There was a number of other interesting technologies that were part of the program including the linear aerospike rocket engine, and one point of praise was the metallic thermal protection system invented by BF Goodrich for the launch system.

VentureStar's engineering and design would have offered numerous advantages over the Space Shuttle, representing considerable savings in time and materials, as well as increased safety. VentureStar was expected to launch satellites into orbit at about 1/10 the cost of the Shuttle.

Readying VentureStar for flight would have dramatically differed from that of the Space Shuttle. Unlike the Space Shuttle orbiter, which had to be lifted and assembled together with several other heavy components (a large external tank, plus two solid rocket boosters), VentureStar was to be simply inspected in a hangar like an aeroplane.