Defense Advanced Research Project Agency will soon start building their new space shuttle. DARPA announced that they will be building and launching a space shuttle without a pilot.
The Motley Fool noted that the DARPA space shuttle will be unlike the ones that NASA built and operated from 1981 to 2011. Known as the "experimental space place" DARPA's space shuttle will have a rocket-like launch.
It was mentioned that the DARPA "experimental space plane" the XS-1 will not be able to access the orbit. Instead of entering the orbit, the DARPA XS-1 would only launch until the "edge of the Earth." It would then release a payload the rest of the way into the Earth's lower orbit.
Once it already launched the payload, the DARPA XS-1 will eventually land to refuel and would re-launch the next day. According to DARPA, their aim is to create a reliable and reusable space shuttle. Part of their vision of the "experimental space plane" is to make it reusable and allow it to fly at least ten times over the span of ten days.
To make things interesting, DAPRPA's "experimental space plane" will be flying without a pilot. The drone like space plane will be the first of its kind DARPA technology as per Science World Report.
DARPA already started with the Phase 1 on their "experimental space shuttle" project. They are on their way to Phase 2 and 3, but they did admit that they will be needing funds. DARPA admitted that they are intending to award $140 million to whoever wins the Phase 2 and 3 of the contracts.
The "experimental space plane" may take a while to finish before having I launched. Though they already created a drone known as the X-37B, it does not, however, match the same design for the "experimental space plane."
