{"id":14537,"date":"2017-06-14T00:53:12","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T16:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/boeing-darpa-to-base-xs-1-spaceplane-at-cape-canaveral\/"},"modified":"2017-06-14T00:53:12","modified_gmt":"2017-06-13T16:53:12","slug":"boeing-darpa-to-base-xs-1-spaceplane-at-cape-canaveral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/boeing-darpa-to-base-xs-1-spaceplane-at-cape-canaveral\/","title":{"rendered":"Boeing, DARPA to base XS-1 spaceplane at Cape Canaveral"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artist\u2019s concept of the XS-1 spaceplane before releasing its expendable upper stage. Credit: Boeing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A reusable suborbital spaceplane the size of a business jet being developed by Boeing and the Defense Department\u2019s research and development arm could be launching and landing at Cape Canaveral in 2020, officials said after the defense contractor won a competition last month to design and test the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Designed for rapid reusability, the XS-1 spaceplane will take off vertically like a rocket \u2014 without a crew \u2014 deploy an upper stage after traveling beyond the edge of space, then return to landing on a runway for inspections and reuse.<\/p>\n

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, selected Boeing to finish designing the spaceplane last month. Boeing beat competitors Northrop Grumman and Masten Space Systems to win the $146 million contract.<\/p>\n

Boeing and DARPA are developing the spaceplane in a cost-sharing public-private partnership arrangement, but Boeing did not disclose how much it is spending on the program.<\/p>\n

When operational after a series of suborbital and orbital test flights, the XS-1 and its expendable upper stage could place satellites weighing up to 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) into low Earth orbit several hundred miles above the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe XS-1 would be neither a traditional airplane nor a conventional launch vehicle but rather a combination of the two, with the goal of lowering launch costs by a factor of ten and replacing today\u2019s frustratingly long wait time with launch on demand,\u201d said Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager, in a press release. \u201cWe\u2019re very pleased with Boeing\u2019s progress on the XS-1 through Phase 1 of the program and look forward to continuing our close collaboration in this newly funded progression to Phases 2 and 3 \u2014 fabrication and flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Defense Department envisions the Experimental Spaceplane, or XS-1, program as an option for rapid call-up to replace a lost military or commercial satellite, available to launch within days instead of the months or years needed today.<\/p>\n

An end goal for the XS-1 program is to launch 10 times in 10 days, with recurring operating costs as little as $5 million per flight, including the disposable upper stage, according to DARPA.<\/p>\n

Boeing calls its XS-1 test vehicle the Phantom Express, a winged craft the size of a business jet that will launch to the edge of space and release an expendable upper stage, which would fire to inject the mission\u2019s payload into orbit. The reusable first stage would turn around and fly back to the launch site.<\/p>\n