VentureStar

VentureStar

Simulated view of VentureStar in low Earth orbit, having released its payload
Function	Crewed Re-usable Spaceplane
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin
Country of origin	United States
Size
Height	38.7 m (127 ft)[1]
Diameter	39.0 m (128.0 ft)[2]
Mass	1,000,000 kg (2,200,000 lb)[1]
Stages	1
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	20,000 kg (44,000 lb)[1]
Launch history
Status	Cancelled
Launch sites	Kennedy, LC-39A
Total launches	0
First stage – VentureStar
Powered by	7 Rocketdyne RS-2200 Linear Aerospikes[1]
Maximum thrust	3,010,000 lbf (13.4 MN)[1]
Propellant	LOX/LH2[1]
[edit on Wikidata]

VentureStar was a single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch system proposed by Lockheed Martin and funded by the U.S. government. The goal was to replace the Space Shuttle by developing a re-usable spaceplane that could launch satellites into orbit at 1/10 of the cost. While the requirement was for an uncrewed launcher, it was expected to carry passengers as cargo. The VentureStar would have had a wingspan of 68 feet (20.7 m), a length of 127 feet (38.7 m), and would have weighed roughly 1,000 tonnes (2.2 million lb).

VentureStar was intended to be a commercial single-stage-to-orbit vehicle that would be launched vertically, but return to Earth as an airplane. Flights would have been leased to NASA as needed. After failures with the X-33 subscale technology demonstrator test vehicle, funding was cancelled in 2001.

VentureStar was essentially a bigger version of the X-33 but was not produced.^[3] The X-33 had ongoing problems meeting performance requirements for the carbon fiber hydrogen fuel tank.^[3] There were a number of other technologies that were part of the program, including the linear aerospike rocket engine. One point of praise was the metallic thermal protection system (TPS) developed by BF Goodrich.^[3]