The US developed the new generation XS-1 supersonic spacecraft

The Defense Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) of the US Department of Defense announced that it has chosen Boeing to design, manufacture and test unmanned supersonic supersonic spacecraft with the new generation. The name 1 (XS-1) test spacecraft is capable of flying 10 times in 10 days.

The XS-1 unmanned spacecraft is about the same size as a civilian aircraft, capable of taking off vertically like a missile's working mechanism and flying at supersonic speeds.

However, unlike the US military's X-37B spacecraft, the XS-1 is powered by independent frozen compressed air without using an external accelerator.

When certain trajectory is reached, the XS-1 will drop a self-destruct launcher that can launch a satellite with a weight of about 1.360kg into orbit.

Once completed, the XS-1 returns to Earth, landing like normal planes and preparing for the next flight in just a few hours. With this current technology, launching satellites into orbit takes months and even years of preparation.

XS-1 is designed to convert the satellite launch process.

According to DARPA, XS-1 production will need significant advances in science and technology, but this will revolutionize the ability to recover the loss of military or commercial satellites that the US is dependent on. .

DARPA Program Director, Jess Sponablen, said XS-1 is a combination of a traditional aircraft and a conventional vehicle, with the goal of reducing the cost of launching and replacing technology that is consuming much. Time to launch now with the ability to launch as required.

Meanwhile, Darryl Davis, Boeing's Head of Security, Space and Defense, said the XS-1 was designed to convert the satellite launch process , thereby creating the ability to launch on demand. with low cost and less risk.

Boeing will conduct 10 tests of XS-1 engines in the ground environment over a period of 10 consecutive days to ensure that the XS-1 will be ready for the first test flight in 2019 It is expected that by 2020, XS-1 will have to undergo 12-15 test flights.

After successful flight tests, DARPA will put XS-1 into operation for 10 consecutive days. The first phase of XS-1 will fly with no load at 5 times the speed of sound. The flights will then have the same speed as Mach 10 and carry a load of 400-1,360kg into orbit Earth.

If this program is successful, the cost of each take-off of the XS-1 is less than 5 million USD, including the cost of the self-destruct launcher. This is only a fraction of what the US military is spending on similar payload systems.