NASA planned to begin a series of drop tests with the Boeing X-40 space manoeuvre vehicle testbed on 18 December as a prelude to flight tests of the agency's Boeing X-37 spaceplane technology demonstrator.
A preparatory captive-carry test was completed on 8 December from Edwards AFB, California, the unpowered testbed being lifted to 15,000ft by a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
The USAir Force-funded X-40 flew once, in August 1998, when it was drop-tested from a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter after a series of captive-carry flights. Tests are being restarted as part of the NASA-led X-37 programme as the two vehicles are almost identical.
Six free flights are planned early next year to test the shape, guidance and other systems for the X-37. Boeing plans to roll out the reusable spaceplane technology demonstrator in the fourth quarter.
A series of X-37 drop tests is planned, probably from NASA's Boeing B-52, before the X-37 goes into orbit in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle.
Source: Flight International
