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 1/10th 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 1000 t (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 developed by BF Goodrich.^[3]