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美国X-33单级入轨(SSTO)试验飞行器的研制目标,是为将来研制一种可重复使用的发射飞行器(RLV)在技术和操作上打好基础,以便显著降低空间运输的费用。目前有三个公司小组在竞争这个项目:洛克希德·马丁的升力体方案;罗克韦尔的带翼设计;麦道/波音的与DC-X相似的垂直降落飞行器。美国航空航天局(NASA)将在今年6月选择一个小组建造一个X-33。X-33研制的开展不到5个月,美国国内对可重复使用发射飞行器的研制方向爆发了激烈的争论。
The goal of the U.S. X-33 Single-Stage Orbiter (SSTO) test aircraft is to lay the foundation for technical and operational development of a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) in the future in order to significantly reduce space transportation costs. There are currently three corporate teams competing for this project: Lockheed Martin’s lift-body program; Rockwell’s winged design; and McDonnell Douglas’s DC-X-like vertical-landing aircraft. NASA will select a small group to build an X-33 in June this year. Within less than 5 months after the development of the X-33, there was a heated debate in the United States on the development direction of the reusable launch vehicle.