Satgen 545  New Spacecraft  by GM4IHJ     (BID SGEN545)  1999-09-04

Almost all presently operational space vehicles have been around for
20 years or more.Now several new vehicles are undergoing tests or soon
will be doing so. Although it will be years before any of the final
production versions appear in space.

ROTON  is the most unique. It is a single stage to orbit vehicle,
designed for vertical take off using a rocket engine. But for landing
it will use an autorotating helicopter mode. Present plans call for
7000 lbs lift to low earth orbit, with only 1 or 2 days on the ground
before it is ready for another flight. Cost of a launch will be about
7 million dollars. Atmosphere tests are planned and should start soon,
but the financial state of the project is uncertain and it is not
clear at this time , when if ever orbital flight will be attempted.

X38    is intended as the prototype reduced size trials vehicle, for a
full sized reusable, crew return from space transport. Present plans
call for a full scale vehicle to be ready for trials in 2001. With in
service use as an International Space station crew return to earth
vehicle, starting sometime after December 2003.

        Testing of the X38 prototype has reached the stage of air
drops from a B-52 bomber , followed by a brief period of free flight,
before the deployment of a parafoil 150 ft in span and 50 ft long.
Under which the vehicle descended slowly and landed safely in the
target area. With only one minor excitement when its laser altimeter
was briefly out of action due to condensation on its window. Further
air drops are planned at roughly 6 week intervals during 1999.

        Space shuttle lifts to orbit, followed by release, re entry
and landing trials are planned for the full sized vehicle after
January 2001. X38 will also be able to be launched to orbit by the
European Ariane 5.

X33     is a technical demonstrator for a vertical take off and runway
landing transport, to and from space. The prototype is a sub orbital
vehical . triangular in shape , with attitude control achieved via
differential rocket thrust, rather than the more conventional
gimballing of large heavy rocket nozzles. Four vehicles are planned ,
two for flight test and two for ground testing. But while a firm
programme for these tests is laid down , the step up to a fully
operational vehicle provisionally named Venture Star, is far less
certain. Noting that political comments made recently suggest that
technical problems with the prototype trials vehicles make it unlikely
that the operational service version will materialise in less than 5
or even 10 years.

         There will be no manual control in the operational X33. Any
passengers will be carried as cargo. Reliant on the quality of the
onboard navigation and pilotage software for safe rendezvous, dockings
, releases, re entries and landings.