X-33 VentureStar – Air Drop Model Takes Off with Mothership for Glide Test

(Above) A radio controlled model aircraft, acting as a miniature mothership, carries aloft a model of the (now canceled) X-33. The X-33 model is mounted under the Mothership’s right boom. After reaching the desired altitude, the X-33 model was released and glided back to a landing.

In 1996 NASA selected Lockheed Martin to design, build, and fly the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator test vehicle. The X-33, a half-scale vehicle, was to feature a lifting-body shape, a new “aerospike” rocket engine, and a rugged metallic thermal protection system. It was expected to demonstrate in flight the new technologies needed for a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).