DARPA’s Experimental Aircraft Part of New Space Plan 

Photo courtesy of DARPA.

By Ashley Addington



DARPA has established a new space -focused program, called the Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) that will develop a reusable unmanned system that will have aircraft-like operations in orbit. 



The hope is for the new system to be able to launch from a clean pad with few launch members. With a smaller crew, more flights can be scheduled with a wide range of locations.  



“We want to build off of proven technologies to create a reliable, cost-effective space delivery system with one-day turnaround,” said Jess Sponable, DARPA program manager heading XS-1, in a press release.



The goal with XS-1 is to be able to conduct 10 flights in 10 days while achieving speeds of up to Mach ten or more.  XS-1 is designed to cost less than $10 million per flight. 



XS-1 will compliment a current research program called ALASA (Airborne Launch Assist Space Access) that plans to launch a 100 pound satellite for less than $1 million per launch.