Spaceplane Contracts

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has awarded Mojave, CA-based rocket technology company Masten Space Systems a $3 million contract for work on the agency's XS-1 Spaceplane program, according to a June 27 award notice on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

The award is for scientific research and development work, according to the notice, but no other details were provided.

In a separate June 27 notice posted on FBO, the Air Force Research Laboratory signaled its intention to awarded Northrop Grumman a contract in connection with the XS-1 Spaceplane program, although no other details or contract value were provided.

Contracts for the program are long overdue. DARPA had expected to award a number of contracts for Phase 1 of the program in the second quarter of this fiscal year, according to the original XS-1 broad agency announcement issued last November. As Inside the Air Force reported in December:

DARPA has a $14 million budget for the first 13-month conceptual design phase of the program. This will fund the Phase One contracts, which are worth up to $3 million with the option of applying for a further $1 million, according to the broad agency announcement on the Federal Business Opportunities website.

Phases Two and Three are conditional on the success of Phase One, and will involve the detailed design, fabrication and flight testing of an XS-1 spaceplane. This is expected to require an additional $140 million in funding.

The philosophy behind the XS-1 effort, and DARPA's complementary Airborne Launch Assist Space Access program, is to dramatically reduce the cost of space access, according to agency statements.

The goal of an XS-1 spaceplane is to deliver 3,000 to 5,000-pound payloads into low earth orbit for less than $5,000 per launch, while the ALASA program hopes to put a far lighter 300-pound payload in orbit for less than $1 million.

Phase 1 contracts support trade studies, operational concepts and preliminary designs, the BAA states. According to the BAA, DARPA had expected to complete Phase 1 by mid-FY-15. Phases 2 and 3 depend on the success of Phase 1, and if all were to go well, the program would conclude with a flight tests in FY-18.

Masten specializes in creating and deploying rocket vehicles and components. “The company builds regeneratively-cooled bipropellant propulsion systems and fully reusable vertical-takeoff-and-landing launch vehicles. Masten focuses on unmanned suborbital flights,” the company's website states.

DARPA officials and Masten executives could not be reached for comment by press time.