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X-33 Program Status August 23, 2000 STATUS REPORT X-33 Composite Hydrogen Tank Failure Report Released During a press briefing Aug. 10, 2000, the X-33 Composite Hydrogen Tank Failure Report was released to the public. The report can be downloaded through a link on this NASA X-33 web site. The report documents the findings of the 14-person investigation team co-chaired by Bob Ryan, retired deputy director of the Structures and Dynamics Laboratory at the Marshall Space Flight Center, and Bob Goetz, senior advisor and former vice president of engineering for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. The team was initiated after one of the two composite hydrogen tanks built for the X-33 failed in testing on Nov. 5, 1999. Negotiations Underway to Restructure the Program NASA, Lockheed Martin, and our other industry partners remain fully committed to completing the X-33 Program and meeting the goals of demonstrating the technologies needed to show the viability of a single stage to orbit (SSTO) vehicle. Negotiations are currently underway on how best to restructure the existing Program in order to accomplish these goals following the tank failure. Possible alternatives to using composite hydrogen tanks are currently being evaluated. Our current projections show that the start of the X-33 flight test program will now occur no earlier than the second half of 2002. Next Phase of Aerospike Engine Testing to Begin Following the successful completion of the single engine test program this past spring, efforts are now underway to prepare for dual engine testing of the two flight linear aerospike engines. The two flight engines have been assembled and mated at the NASA/Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. A photograph of the two mated flight engines is shown below. The test stand at Stennis is in the process of being converted from single engine testing capability to dual engine testing capability. Full-scale dual engine testing should commence no earlier than this October. The dual engine test series should extend through the first half of 2001. Following successful testing, the two flight engines will be removed from the stand and shipped to Lockheed Martin in Palmdale, Calif., for installation into the vehicle. Back to X-33 Program Status