Boeing’s expert aeronautical engineers will soon be giving Elon Musk’s SpaceX a run for his money.
According to TechCrunch, the airline giant has landed the contract to build the XS-1, a specially designed spaceplane that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) will use for low-cost trips to space. The goal would be to fly the XS-1 at least 10 times a year at about $5 million per flight—way less than what it normally costs to launch a spaceship.
But what it will shed in terms of price-per-launch, it will gain in innovation. Notes TechCrunch:
“It’s meant to be a fusion of all the high-tech stuff from NASA, the Air Force and private sector aerospace, like lightweight cryogenic propellant tanks and super-strong and durable composite wings that can handle re-entry temperatures. It should be able to go at speeds up to Mach 10, and deliver payloads weighing up to 3,000 pounds to low-Earth orbit.”
Of course, this will only be Phase 1 of a multi-pronged construction/development process. The second phase won’t begin until 2019, but test flights are set to start by 2020.
Watch a concept video on phases 2-3 for the spaceplane below.
Meet your guide
More Like This
This article appeared in an InsideHook newsletter. Sign up for free to get more on travel, wellness, style, drinking, and culture..
