NASA cancels space plane project

WASHINGTON, MARCH 3 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said it has cancelled the unmanned $1.3 billion X-33 experimental space plane project designed to replace the existing shuttle fleet.

``The cost to fly the X-33 exceeds the benefits that could be derived from flight demonstration of the vehicle,'' Mr. Art Stephenson, director of NASA's Marshall space centre in Huntsville, which manages launch technology procurement, said. ``The decision to kill the project has been a very tough one but we are confident it is the right business decision,'' he said.

``NASA determined that the benefits to be derived from flight testing these X-vehicles did not warrant the magnitude of government investment required,'' the space agency said in a statement. The X-33 programme will end when the five-year cooperative agreement between NASA and Lockheed Martin expires on March 31, ``unless Lockheed Martin chooses to go forward with the program with its own funds.''

The programme first ran into trouble in 1999 when a composite liquid hydrogen fuel tank failed during testing. An investigation determined that composite technology was not ready for use in space. X-33 is a 69-ft long, unpiloted prototype designed to pave way for a larger vehicle called Venturestar that could carry people and cargo. NASA said it was in the process of ending its X-34 contract with Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Virginia. X- 34 was to provide a low-cost technology test bed for promising new rocket technology.

- PTI

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Section  : International
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