The Space Shuttle was retired early due to the high cost of sending the vehicle into orbit. Now, a new study suggests the cheapest way to reach space is — a space shuttle.
United States defense research agency DARPA has established a new program to succeed where the old program failed: To provide quick, affordable and routine access to space.
NASA’s iconic Space Shuttle program failed to reach the lofty heights for which it was designed as it required much more extensive and expensive repairs and reconditioning after each launch than was initially expected.
But, four decades after the iconic space plane took to the sky, the concept upon which it was based has been proven sound.
DARPA has initiated the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) program to develop a new fully reusable vehicle to provide aircraft-like access to space.
Unlike the old Space Shuttle, it is expected to be unmanned.
The intention is to provide a “daily” satellite launch service from a variety of commercial and military airfields.
“We want to build off of proven technologies to create a reliable, cost-effective space delivery system with one-day turnaround,” said Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager heading XS-1. “How it’s configured, how it gets up and how it gets back are pretty much all on the table – we’re looking for the most creative yet practical solutions possible.”
The plan is to use a reusable first stage that can fly at up to hypersonic speeds while still in the atmosphere. Once it reaches a predetermined height, it would deploy a separate launch vehicle to carry the satellite into orbit.
Among the technical goals is the ability to fly 10 times in 10 days, a speed of Mach 10+ and a cost of less than $5 million per flight.
The defense research body will be conducting talks with interested space and aviation businesses on October 7 on the prospects of building such a vehicle.
This story originally appeared on News.com.au.