Orbital Sciences X-34
The Orbital Sciences X-34 was an autonomous pilotless aircraft produced by the US space company Orbital Sciences Corporation . It was intended as an inexpensive test environment for new technologies that could be integrated into a space shuttle .
history
The X-34 was intended as an autonomous pilotless aircraft that is accelerated to Mach 5 by a rocket engine and should perform up to 25 test flights per year. The engine-less prototype was only used for test flights towing other aircraft until the project was canceled in 2001 for cost reasons.
Data
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| First flight | June 29, 1999, carried on a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar |
| Manufacturer | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
| span | 8.2 m |
| length | 17.7 m |
| crew | 0 (remote controlled) |
Web links
Commons : Orbital Sciences X-34 - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files
- NASA Photo Gallery ( Memento from December 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive )