Feb 132011
The one project that I’ve made any progress on in the recent illness-filled weeks is the trio of 1/48 X-42’s, shown here with the master for the 1/40 X-15-SERJ.
3 Responses to “X-42 progress”
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What exactly was X-42 to be used for anyway? Some sort of ASAT or mini reconsat launcher?
The X-42 seems to have been somewhat vaguely defined and never settled upon, with some sources calling it a pop-up upper stage, others (like this one) a testbed for RLV technologies. In the latter case, OSC (and others) proposed what were virtually scaled-down Rockwell X-33’s, but with the ability to put small upper stages on their backs (likely the X-42 “pop-up stage”), with some art showing satellite launching, others – as in this case – tossing a single RV.
Seems like a lot of trouble to go to to launch a single RV.
Years back I pointed out if you wanted some sort of a air-launch RV carrier, the Pegasus light satellite booster would be a good place to start, giving you something equivalent to, and longer-ranged than, the canceled Skybolt missile.