Key Points
- DARPA has issued an RfP for the XS-1 satellite-launching space plane
- Responses are due by 22 July
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) on 23 May released a request for proposal (RfP) for a satellite-launching space plane.
The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is continuing to push development of its XS-1 spaceplane programme. (Northrop Grumman)
According to DARPA, the XS-1 is envisioned to employ “structures made of advanced materials, cryogenic tanks, durable thermal protection, and modular subsystems”, and a reusable, reliable unmanned propulsion or booster vehicle. The booster vehicle would launch, fly to hypersonic speeds at a suborbital altitude “where one or more expendable upper stages would separate, boost, and deploy satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO)”, then return to earth for another flight with rapid turnaround.
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