The Orbital Sciences X-34 was intended to be a low-cost testbed for demonstrating "key technologies" that could be integrated into the

Reusable Launch Vehicle A reusable launch vehicle has parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as fairings, booster ...

program. It was intended to be an autonomous pilotless craft powered by a " Fastrac"

liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or Solid-propellant rocket , solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because th ...

engine, capable of reaching

Mach The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a Boundary (thermodynamic), boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physi ...

8 and performing 25 test flights per year. The X-34 began as a program for a

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

reusable-rocket technology demonstrator. In early 2001, the first flight vehicle was near completion, but the program was ended due to budget concerns. Up to this point, the project had encompassed spending of just under $112 million: $85.7M from the original contract with designer Orbital Sciences, $16M from NASA and various government agencies for testing, and an additional $10M for Orbital Sciences to adapt its

L-1011 The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter commercial operations, after the Boeing 74 ...

carrier aircraft to accommodate the X-34. The program was officially canceled by NASA on March 31, 2001. The unpowered prototype had been used only for towing and captive flight tests when the project was canceled. The two demonstrators remained in storage at

Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, California, Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino County and a souther ...

until they were temporarily moved to

Mojave, California Mojave (formerly Mohave) is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, and north of Los Angeles, at an elevation of . The town is located in the western region of the Mojave ...

, in late 2010. This prompted some speculation that they might be restored to flight status. , the spaceplanes were lying in the yard of a crane company in nearby

Lancaster, California Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the popul ...

Gallery

File:X-34 at NASA Dryden Flight Research Center - GPN-2000-000185.jpg, On display outside Dryden Research Center in 2000 File:X-34 Mated to Modified L-1011 - GPN-2000-000187.jpg, Mated to the mothership '' Stargazer'' in 2000 File:Orbital sciences x34 2020-04-22 scrapyard04.jpg, A photo of one of the testbed fuselages in a scrapyard outside Edwards Air Force Base in April 2020

References

External links

*
NASA Dryden X-34 Technology Testbed Demonstrator Photo Collection

{{X-planes Edwards Air Force Base Spaceplanes X-34, Orbital Sciences Unflown aircraft

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links