THE DC-XA, AN upgraded version of McDonnell Douglas' (MDC's) original Delta Clipper-Experimental (DC-X) re-useable launch vehicle was rolled out at the company's Huntington Beach site in California on 15 March.
The improved single-stage vertical-take-off-and-landing rocket will be used to evaluate re-useable-launch-vehicle technologies "in an operational flight environment," says MDC, which is teamed with Boeing on the X-33 Space Shuttle replacement effort.
Upgrades to the rocket include an aluminum-lithium liquid-oxygen tank, a composite liquid-hydrogen tank and inter-tank structure, integrated auxiliary-propulsion system and a modified auxiliary power unit. The DC-XA will go to the US Army White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, for flight tests starting as early as May.
Source: Flight International