Experimental Super-Fast Spaceplane May Be Coming Soon

 

A new airplane may soon be able to travel into space at more than five times the speed of sound.

The Defense¹ Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, announced last Wednesday that a project by the aerospace² company Boeing was making progress. DARPA said Boeing will “complete advanced design work” for an experimental space plane.

DARPA is an agency in the United State Department of Defense. It creates new technology for the American military.

The experimental spaceplane is called the XS-1, or the ‘Phantom³ Express.’ It would operate without a human pilot.

The goal of the project is make it easier to reach low earth orbit, between 160 and 2,000 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.

For example, the spaceplane could be used to launch a satellite very quickly. Currently, a lost military or commercial satellite might take months to replace.

By 2020, the project could make it possible to launch one of the XS-1 vehicles 10 times within 10 days.

Jess Sponable is the DARPA program manager. In a press release, she said DARPA was pleased with Boeing’s earlier work on the project. She added the Phantom Express spaceplane would reduce the cost of space launches to one tenth of their current levels and would make them possible “on demand.”

“The XS-1 would be neither a traditional airplane nor a [normal] launch vehicle, but rather a combination of the two,” said Sponable.

DARPA reports that the Phantom Express will be about the size and weight of a business jet. Instead of using rockets to launch, it will use self-contained, super cold fuel.

Right before reaching outer space, the plane would launch a smaller rocket . This would be able to lift a satellite weighing up to 1,360 kilograms into low Earth orbit.

The XS-1 would then return to Earth, landing like a normal plane. DARPA said the plane could then possibly be reused “within hours.”

The Phantom Express could fly as a fast as Mach 10, or ten times the speed of sound, DARPA said.

But the XS-1 is still years away from completion. DAPRA reported testing of the plane’s engines on the ground is not planned to start until 2019.

Words in This Story

aerospace – adj. related to the development of airplanes and spacecraft

advanced – adj. not basic, well developed, using new methods

commercial – adj. related to the buying or selling of goods

jet – n. a fast airplane that has one or more jet engines

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。

3 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。