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About . . . X-33 The wedge shaped X-33, being developed under a cooperative agreement between NASA and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works of Palmdale, California, is a subscale technology demonstration prototype of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) which Lockheed Martin has labeled "Venture Star," and which the company hopes to develop early in the next century. Through demonstration flights and ground research, NASA's X-33 program will provide the information needed for industry representatives such as Lockheed Martin to decide by the year 2000 whether to proceed with the development of a full-scale, commercial RLV program. A full-scale, single-stage-to-orbit RLV will dramatically increase reliability and lower costs of putting a pound of payload into space. By reducing the cost associated with transporting payloads into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), a commercial RLV would create new opportunities for space access and significantly improve U.S. economic competitiveness in the worldwide launch marketplace. NASA will be a customer, not the operator, of the commercial RLV. X-33 compared to RLV – What's the difference? The X-33 design is based on a lifting body shape with two revolutionary "linear aerospike" rocket engines and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. The X-33 also features lightweight components and fuel tanks built to conform to the vehicle's outer shape. The X-33 will be an unpiloted vehicle, taking off vertically like a rocket, reaching an altitude of up to 60 miles and speeds faster than Mach 13 (13 times the speed of sound), and landing horizontally like an airplane. Time between the X-33 test flights will normally be seven days. However, the X-33 program will demonstrate a two-day turnaround between flights during the flight-test phase. For more information about NASA's plans for space transportation technology, click here.