Jim Cast Headquarters, Washington, DC May 22, 1997 (Phone: 202/358-1779) Dom Amatore Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (Phone: 205/544-0031) Baron Beneski Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, VA (Phone: 703/406-5528) RELEASE: 97-107 X-34 SYSTEMS DESIGN FREEZE COMPLETED Government and industry managers yesterday successfully completed a three-day systems design freeze of X-34, the next technology demonstrator vehicle in NASA's Reusable Launch Vehicle stable. X-34, a reusable, suborbital, air-launched vehicle, will fly at speeds approaching Mach 8 (eight times the speed of sound) at altitudes up to 50 miles to continue demonstrations of new, reusable launch vehicle technologies aimed, ultimately, at dramatically reducing the cost of transporting payloads into space. The review, conducted at Orbital Sciences Corporation in Dulles, VA, essentially anchors the design of X-34 systems -- for example, structures, guidance, navigation and control, avionics, thermal protection systems and main propulsion systems -- that will allow the program to proceed with fabrication and manufacturing of these systems. Initial flights, scheduled for launch and landing within air space at the White Sands Missile Range, NM, will begin in late 1998. Up to 25 flights within a yearŐs time are scheduled; some also will take place in Florida to demonstrate subsonic landing and thermal protection system performance through inclement weather conditions. X-34 bridges the gap between earlier subsonic Clipper Graham (DC-XA) flights in 1996, and the larger and higher performance X- 33 Mach 15 demonstrator, which will begin flights in early 1999. The winged, reusable, single-stage X-34 vehicle -- propelled by a kerosene/liquid oxygen engine developed, tested and provided by NASA -- will demonstrate key technologies, including composite primary and secondary airframe structures; cryogenic insulation and propulsion system elements; advanced thermal protection systems and materials; low cost avionics, including differential Global Positioning and Inertial Navigation Systems; as well as key operations technologies such as integrated vehicle health- monitoring and automated checkout systems. Six NASA Centers, Department of Defense installations (White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base) and an industry team led by the prime contractor, Orbital Sciences Corporation, are playing key roles in the development and eventual flight testing of the X-34 technology testbed demonstrator. The program is managed by the Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. - end - Note to Editors: A high-resolution X-34 photo is available via the Internet at: http://rlv.msfc.nasa.gov. Additional photo requests may be directed to NASA Headquarters Imaging Branch at 202/358-1900, or the Marshall Space Flight Center at: 205/544- 0031.