`SKUNK WORKS' LANDS CONTRACT FOR SPACEPLANE; COMPANY TO DEVELOP CONCEPT.Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer Lockheed Martin For the former company, see . Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is a leading multinational aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. ``Skunk skunk, name for several related New World mammals of the weasel family, characterized by their conspicuous black and white markings and use of a strong, highly offensive odor for defense. Works'' won a $4 million contract to develop a concept and technologies for a military spaceplane A spaceplane is a rocket plane designed to pass the edge of space. It combines some of the features of an aircraft and some of a spacecraft. Typically, it takes the form of a spacecraft equipped with wings. , the company announced Wednesday. Under the 18-month-long contract, Skunk Works will produce a concept design for a suborbital suborbital /sub·or·bi·tal/ (sub-or´bi-t'l) infraorbital. sub·or·bit·al adj. Situated on or below the floor of the orbit of the eye. n. demonstrator - a prototype that would go to the edge of space, but not into orbit. The design is required to be sufficient in detail to establish critical technology components and develop specific designs and ground tests to demonstrate how well those components work. The contract includes up to $10 million in options for equipment to be tested on the ground. The spaceplane project is under development by the Air Force Phillips Laboratory Military Spaceplane Technology Office in Albuquerque, N.M., the Space and Missile Systems Center Based out of Los Angeles Air Force Base in California, the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) is a part of Air Force Space Command of the United States Air Force. Its mission is to conduct research and development of U.S. military outer space and missile systems. in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and the Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs. Boeing's McDonnell Douglas Space Division in Huntington Beach was awarded a similar contract. The Skunk Works is looking to spin off technologies it is developing for the VentureStar, a proposed reusable spacecraft program, for the military spaceplane project. The Skunk Works is now building the X-33, a $1.1 billion suborbital craft that is intended to pave the way for the development of VentureStar. Launched vertically like a rocket from Edwards, the wedge-shaped X-33 is scheduled to make 15 flights in 1999 to landing fields in California, Utah and Montana. It will glide to a landing like the space shuttles. The Skunk Works also will work on integration of a Boeing-developed space vehicle known as Refly, which will serve as a smaller space vehicle capable of achieving and remaining in low Earth orbit (communications) low earth orbit - (LEO) The kind of orbit used by communications satellites that will offer high bandwidth for video on demand, television, and Internet communications. when launched externally from the military spaceplane. Refly could be used to deliver payloads to orbit from the military spaceplane, boost payloads into higher orbiters, or be used as a rapid-reaction reconnaissance system. ``Where the big spaceplane that boosts the maneuver vehicle (Refly) into orbit might only have a few hours or days of dwell time in orbit, the space maneuver vehicle can stay up for weeks, months, or perhaps, up to a year,'' said Lt. Col. Jess Sponable, the military spaceplane technical director. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion