The Rocketplane XP is a suborbital spaceplane under development by Rocketplane Limited, Inc.. The vehicle is powered by two jet engines and a rocket engine, enabling it to reach suborbital space. The XP is designed to operate from existing spaceports in a manner consistent with established commercial aviation practices.

Flight trajectory

The Rocketplane XP, carrying a pilot and five commercial participants (passengers), will take off from a runway using a jet engine just like regular aircraft and ascend to about 12 km (40,000 feet). At this point, a reusable rocket engine powers the XP until it shuts off and the XP continues in free-fall to altitudes of over 100 km (62 miles). The XP will then reenter Earth?s atmosphere and land at the same spaceport under conventional jet power.

The XP will operate from the Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark near Burns Flat, Oklahoma.

Loan of flight test engine

On January 24, 2006 Rocketplane Limited announced a Space Act agreement with NASA Johnson Space Center for the loan of a Rocketdyne RS-88 rocket engine for three years, for use in flight tests of the XP vehicle.^[1]

New configuration

Rocketplane CEO George French Sr told NASASpaceFlight that the company is working on a new Rocketplane XP configuration. He said the new configuration would be announced at the X Prize Cup.^[2]

Other Rocketplane Limited spaceplanes

In addition to the XP, Rocketplane Limited is trying to develop multiple generations of spaceplanes to serve the civilian and military markets based on successful United States Department of Defense (DOD) and NASA awards as well as continued growth in the space tourism market. However, the energy and technology gap between a suborbital spaceplane and an orbital one is huge. Even if the suborbital Rocketplane XP is successful, Rocketplane will need a lot of resources and technology breakthroughs to build an orbital craft.

References

See also

• EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project, a copy of the Rocketplane XP by EADS

External links

• Rocketplane official website

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