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X-37 Technology Demonstrator: Blazing the trail for the

next generation of space transportation systems

NASA Facts

FS-2003-09-121-MSFC September 2003

National Aeronautics andSpace Administration

Marshall Space Flight CenterHuntsville, Alabama 35812

In August 1998, NASA issued a research announce-

ment soliciting proposals from the aerospace industryfor Future-X -- a ight demonstrator vehicle to test andvalidate emerging technologies that could dramaticallyreduce the cost of space transportation.

The announcement called for proposals for ight dem-onstrations that required actual ight-testing as a criticalstep in validating and maturing space transportation tech-nologies. Airframe system technologies to be developedand tested included propellant tanks, thermal protection

systems, avionics and structures. Propulsion system tech-

nologies to be tested included main propulsion systems,propellants, and high-temperature materials.

In December 1998, NASA selected The Boeing Companyof Seal Beach, Calif., for negotiations, leading to a July1999 award of a four-year cooperative agreement to de-velop the X-37 advanced ight demonstrator. The coopera-tive agreement, valued at $173 million, included a 50/50cost sharing agreement between NASA and Boeing. Overthe four-year period, the government added approximately

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$40 million to the agreement. Therefore, total value of thegovernment share of the cooperative agreement was $125million, including the U.S. Air Force contribution of $16million for additional technology experiments, includingadvanced solar arrays and enhanced attitude controlsneeded to improve future military spacecraft. Boeing con-tributed approximately $67 million toward the cooperativeagreement.

The X-37 was the third in a series of advanced reus-able technology demonstrators, following the X-33 andX-34. While those demonstrators were designed to ighttest technologies at lower altitudes and speeds, the X-37 would be the rst to explore the orbital and re-entryphases of ight.

The reusable X-37 was designed to demonstrate a totalof 41 embedded technologies and ight experimentsaimed at signicantly cutting the cost of space ight.It could be ferried into space via the Space Shuttleor launched aboard an expendable launch vehicle. Theshape of the X-37 was a 120-percent scale derivativeof the X-40, an unpowered Air Force vehicle that wasa subscale atmospheric demonstrator for the Air ForceSpace Maneuver Vehicle program. The X-40 also wasdesigned and built by Boeing. It was loaned to the X-37project and modied, becoming the X-40A. In 2001, theX-40A ew seven successful unpowered approach andlanding tests at Dryden Flight Test Center.

The X-37 modular design was capable of accommodatingadditional technologies for orbital testing such as advancedthermal protection systems, propulsion systems, advance-

ments in avionics and other spacecraft systems.

In November 2002, the Boeing Company was awardeda new contract for $301 million to continue work on theX-37 ight demonstrator as part of NASAs Space LaunchInitiative. The new contract included development of twovehicles the X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle(ALTV) and the X-37 Orbital Vehicle.

The Approach and Landing Test Vehicle (ALTV) will vali-date system performance of the approach, landing andturnaround operations needed for ight. It will demonstratean integrated Flight Operations Control Center, as well asrange and vehicle ight test operations. In addition, thevehicle will validate aerodynamic stability and structuralintegrity. The vehicle also will demonstrate automatedoperations in the approach and landing range environ-

ment. The X-37 ALTV will be released from a B-52 aircraftat altitudes of up to 40,000 feet to demonstrate descentand landing. The trajectory will duplicate to the maximumextent possible the expected reentry trajectory of theOrbital Vehicle. Five unpowered ight tests are scheduledto begin in 2004.

Based on the X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle, theX-37 Orbital Vehicle will test key, embedded technologiesand ight experiments in relevant environments of ascent,on-orbit, reentry and landing phases of ight. Technologiesto be tested include thermal protection systems, advancedguidance, navigation and control, avionics, high tempera-ture structures, conformal reusable insulation, and high-temperature seals. In addition, the X-37 Orbital Vehicle willdemonstrate unmanned automated orbital ight, reentryand landing. The X-37 Orbital Vehicle is being designedto accommodate orbital operations of up to nine months.Several locations are being studied for the landing site.The orbital ight test is planned for late 2006.

The X-37 is approximately 27.5 feet long with a wingspanof approximately 15 feet, and it contains an experimentbay 7 feet long and 4 feet in diameter. The dry weightof the X-37 will not exceed 7,500 pounds.

The X-37 project is being conducted as a part of the OrbitalSpace Plane program. Information gained in X-37 technol-ogy demonstrations is directly applicable to the design anddevelopment of the future Orbital Space Plane.

The X-37 government team, led by NASAs MarshallSpace Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., also includesNASAs Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, Calif.;Kennedy Space Center, Fla.; Goddard Space Flight Cen-ter in Greenbelt, Md.; Johnson Space Center in Houston;Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; Dryden FlightResearch Center and the U.S. Air Force Flight Test Center,

both at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

For more information on ight demonstrators and theOrbital Space Plane program, visit its web site athttp://www.ospnews.com

Pub 8-40182

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812