Rockwell X-30

> "A new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport (Washington DC), accelerate up to 25 times the speed of sound, attaining low earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours." - Ronald Reagan, 1986 State of the Union Address
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## Rockwell X-30

An artist's concept of the X-30 NASP entering orbit.

### General Purpose

Technology demonstrator for SSTO spaceplane.

## Dimensions

### Mass

Gross: 300,000 lb (136,077 kg)

The **Rockwell X-30** was a hypersonic SSTO spaceplane technology demonstrator project for the **National Aero-Space Plane**, similar to the role the X-33 played for VentureStar. It was also part of a test program for a passenger liner, called the Orient Express, capable of flight from Washington, DC to Tokyo in two hours. It was canceled in 1993 before a prototype could be completed, but major advances in aerospace design and advanced materials was done.

## Variants

### Older design

The older, original design had a conical nose-cone and a single dorsal fin. A one-third scale, 50 foot long model of this design (pictured to the left) is on display at the Aviation Challenge campus of the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. It was built by engineering students at Mississippi State University's Raspet Flight Research Lab in Starkville, Mississippi.

### Newer design

The newer design has a flat, dock-bill nose and dual dorsal fins. Notice the difference between the older version.

## Development

In his 1986 State of the Union address, President Reagan called for a "new Orient Express that could, by the end of the next decade, take off from Dulles Airport (Washington DC), accelerate up to 25 times the speed of sound, attaining low earth orbit or flying to Tokyo within two hours." This plane would be very advanced with completely new technology needing to be developed to fulfill the charge. The X-30 became the project to develop this tech.

Research suggested that Mach 8 was the top speed for a scram-jet based aircraft due the aerodynamic heating, which would use considerable energy from the craft. However, the project showed that the energy could be saved by passing hydrogen over the skin and routing it to the combustion chamber.

In April 1986, contracts for no more than $35 million to develop technology for a hypersonic, air-breathing SSTO vehicle and airframe, while Rocketdyne and Pratt and Whitney were awarded $175 million contracts each to develop the engine/propulsion system. The plan was the airframe contractors would compete and all but one or two would be eliminated. Then 42 months later, in late 1989, they planned to award contracts to build the technology demonstrator.

In 1990, under the direction of Rockwell they got together to discuss the shared problems they faced, such as the technical and budgetary restraints. In 1993 the project was canceled due to budget cuts and technical concerns.

## Gallery

An artist's concept of the X-30 in orbit.An artist drew the X-30 NASP in flight.A model of the X-30 in a wind tunnel
## See Also

* VentureStar, a similar design for an SSTO spaceplane.
* X-43, the down-graded project that ran to actual flights building off the X-30 program.