Lockheed Martin X-33

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X-33

Artist's rendition of the X-33 in orbit.
Function	Uncrewed re-usable spaceplane technology demonstrator
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Country of origin	United States
Project cost	$922 million NASA + $357 million Lockheed Martin[1]
Size
Height	20 m (66 ft)[2]
Mass	129,000 kg (285,000 lb)[2]
Stages	1
Launch history
Status	Canceled
Engine details
Powered by	2 XRS-2200 linear aerospikes[1]
Maximum thrust	1,800 kN (410,000 lbf)[1]
Propellant	LOX/LH2
[edit on Wikidata]

The Lockheed Martin X-33 was a proposed uncrewed, sub-scale technology demonstrator suborbital spaceplane that was developed for a period in the 1990s. The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for the VentureStar orbital spaceplane, which was planned to be a next-generation, commercially operated reusable launch vehicle. The X-33 would flight-test a range of technologies that NASA believed it needed for single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles (SSTO RLVs), such as metallic thermal protection systems, composite cryogenic fuel tanks for liquid hydrogen, the aerospike engine, autonomous (uncrewed) flight control, rapid flight turn-around times through streamlined operations, and its lifting body aerodynamics.^[3]

Failures of its 21-meter wingspan and multi-lobed, composite-material fuel tank during pressure testing ultimately led to the withdrawal of federal support for the program in early 2001. Lockheed Martin has conducted unrelated testing, and has had a single success after a string of failures as recently as 2009 using a 2-meter scale model.^[4]