X-41 Common Aero Vehicle

X-41 is the designation, initiated in 2003, for a still-classified U.S. military spaceplane. The X-41 is now part of the FALCON (Force Application and Launch from Continental United States) program sponsored by DARPA and NASA.

X-41 Common Aero Vehicle
Role Experimental maneuvering re-entry vehicle
National origin United States
Status Experimental research program
Primary user DARPA


Description

Specifications or photos of the X-41 program have not been released to the public; thus little is known about its goals. It has been described as an experimental maneuvering reentry vehicle capable of transporting a 1,000-pound payload on a sub-orbital trajectory at hypersonic speeds and releasing that payload into the atmosphere. The word "Aero" in "Common Aero Vehicle" stood for "aeroshell", not "aerospace", because the CAV was a common aerothermodynamic shell for varying and multiple payloads.[1] The technology necessary for the X-41 is not known and reportedly has yet to be developed. However, it is believed to be a new form of hypersonic propulsion capable of exceeding Mach 7, perhaps reaching Mach 9 (11,025 km/h; 6,851 mph).

References
  1. http://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/app4/x-41.html


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.