EC99-44921-1
An artist’s conception of the half scale X-33 demonstrator flying over the southwestern desert. The vehicle was a wedge-shaped lifting body, with two vertical fins and a pair of stub wings. On the fins are the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works logo, which was the prime contractor. At the rear is the aerospike engine, an experimental design that lacked the nozzles of conventional rockets. The X-33 tested several other new technologies, including composite structures and a metallic thermal protection system. It was hoped that these advances would lead eventually to an operational single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle called the VentureStar. However, due to technical problems with the composite liquid hydrogen tank, the X-33 program was canceled in February 2001.1999NASA Photo › X-33 Project Description