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U.S. Air Force Will Not Fund X-33, X-34 Vehicles
By Brian Berger
Space News Staff Writer
posted: 01:25 pm ET
05 September 2001
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x-33_airforce_010905 WASHINGTON The U.S. Air Force has decided not to adopt NASAs orphaned X-33 and X-34 experimental rockets or take on a greater role in the agencys X-37 space vehicle program, according to industry and government sources. Top Air Force officials were briefed Aug. 28 on a $2 billion proposal to finish and fly the X-33 single-stage rocket prototype in tandem with NASAs X-37 experimental space maneuvering vehicle. The idea was offered by Air Force Space Command officials to the outgoing Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Ryan and Air Force Secretary James Roche. That proposal was more ambitious than Lockheed Martins $400 million proposal to finish and fly the X-33 as a stand-alone demonstration of a reusable launch vehicle concept, sources said. Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., had been building the $1.3 billion X-33 vehicle in partnership with NASA until the space agency pulled out of the program in March amid technical setbacks. At the same time, NASA pulled the plug on its X-34 experimental vehicle program. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., the prime contractor on the X-34, was hoping the Air Force would step in with funding support. But there was no X-34 proposal presented at the Aug. 28 briefing, sources said. The Air Force is expected to notify Congress this week of its decision not to pick up either program. The decision appears to snuff out any remaining hopes for resurrecting the X-33 and X-34 programs. X-37, meanwhile, remains a funded NASA program with limited Air Force involvement. An Air Force spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
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