McDonnell Douglas DC-X

DC-X

McDonnell Douglas DC-XA Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) concept
Function	Prototype SSTO vehicle
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas (Huntington Beach, California)
Country of origin	United States
Project cost	$60 million (1991)
Size
Height	12 metres (39 ft)
Diameter	4.1 metres (13 ft)
Mass	18,900 kilograms (41,700 lb)
Stages	1
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	White Sands Missile Range
Total launches	12
Success(es)	8
Failure(s)	1
Partial failure(s)	3
First flight	18 August 1993
Last flight	31 July 1996
First stage
Diameter	4.1 metres (13 ft)
Empty mass	9,100 kilograms (20,100 lb)
Gross mass	18,900 kilograms (41,700 lb)
Powered by	Four RL-10A-5 liquid-fueled rocket engines four gaseous oxygen/gaseous hydrogen thrusters
Maximum thrust	Main rockets, 60 kN (13,000 lbf) Thrusters, 2.0 kN (440 lbf)
Propellant	Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen
[edit on Wikidata]

The DC-X, short for Delta Clipper or Delta Clipper Experimental, was an uncrewed prototype of a reusable single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle built by McDonnell Douglas in conjunction with the United States Department of Defense's Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) from 1991 to 1993. Starting 1994 until 1995, testing continued through funding of the US civil space agency NASA.^[1] In 1996, the DC-X technology was completely transferred to NASA, which upgraded the design for improved performance to create the DC-XA. After a test flight of DC-XA in 1996 resulted in a fire, the project was canceled. Despite its cancellation, the program inspired later reusable launch systems. Michael D. Griffin has since praised the program as "government R&D at its finest."^[2]