Prometheus (spacecraft)

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Proposed Orbital Sciences Corporation spaceplane

title: "Prometheus (spacecraft)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["spaceplanes", "private-spaceflight", "proposed-spacecraft"] description: "Proposed Orbital Sciences Corporation spaceplane" topic_path: "general/spaceplanes" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(spacecraft)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Proposed Orbital Sciences Corporation spaceplane ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/OrbitalSpacePlaneInOrbit600x597-cropped.jpg" caption="Rendering of Prometheus in orbit"] ::

Prometheus was a proposed crewed vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing (VTHL) lifting body spaceplane concept put forward by Orbital Sciences Corporation in late 2010 as part of the second phase of NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program.{{cite web|title=Proposed Private Space Plane Gets Fiery Name: Prometheus |url=https://www.space.com/10791-proposed-private-space-plane-fiery-prometheus.html|first=Mike |last=Wall |date=February 9, 2011|publisher=Space.com|access-date=December 5, 2022}}

Design

The Prometheus design was based on an earlier NASA design, the HL-20 Personnel Launch System. Prometheus also included other NASA-funded design improvements to HL-20 by Orbital Sciences that were done some years ago as part of NASA's Orbital Space Plane program. Whereas the HL-20 was a pure lifting body, the Prometheus design was for a Blended Lifting Body (BLB). This design combines volumetric efficiency with superior aerodynamic qualities. |last=Leo|first=Ryan D. |title=Evolution of a Blended Lifting Body for the Orbital Space Plane |url=http://www.sawe.org/node/2742|work=no. 3326 |publisher=Society of Allied Weight Engineers |accessdate=2011-02-28 |date=2004-05-15 |quote=issues of volumetric efficiency, high L/D for cross range, low wing loading for reduced landing speed, and passive stability for all abort conditions were addressed. ... As the optimization process continued, the HL-20 initial reference shape eventually evolved into the Blended Lifting Body (BLB). The BLB combines volumetric efficiency with superior aerodynamic qualities and was designed to launch vertically and land horizontally.}} Prometheus could have initially carried four astronauts to the International Space Station or future commercial space stations but further development could have increased the seating capacity to six. The baselined launch vehicle was the Atlas V, but the design could have accommodated other launch vehicles. The cost of the development of the Prometheus spacecraft and of upgrading the Atlas V would be between $3.5 and $4 billion.

Commercial Crew Development program

The Vertical Takeoff, Horizontal Landing (VTHL) vehicle would be launched on a human-rated Atlas V rocket but would land on a runway. The initial design would carry a crew of four, but it could carry up to six people or a combination of crew and cargo. In addition to Orbital Sciences, the consortium included Northrop Grumman that would have built the spaceplane and the United Launch Alliance that would have provided the launch vehicle. Virgin Galactic also confirmed it would be teaming with Orbital on the Orbital CCDev 2 project. After failing to be selected for a CCDev phase 2 award by NASA, Orbital announced in April 2011 it would likely wind down its efforts to develop a commercial crew vehicle.

References

References

  1. (2010-12-14). "Orbital Submits Proposal for NASA's Commercial Crew Development Program". Orbital Sciences Corporation.
  2. Wall, Mike. (2011-02-09). "Proposed Private Space Plane Gets Fiery Name: Prometheus". Space.com.
  3. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/01/science/space/01private.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1 Businesses Take Flight, With Help From NASA], New York Times, 2011-1-31, accessed 2011-02-28
  4. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704694004576020192942362626?mod=WSJ_topics_obama Orbital Proposes Spaceplan for Astronauts], ''[[Wall Street Journal]]'', December 14, 2010, accessed December 15, 2010.
  5. [http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-12/jumping-new-space-race-orbital-sciences-unveils-mini-shuttle-spaceplane-design Jumping into the New Space Race, Orbital Sciences Unveils Mini-Shuttle Spaceplane Design], ''[[Popular Science]]'', 2010-12-16, accessed 2010-12-18. ''"Orbital Sciences isn't the kind of independent, private, "new space" enterprise as, say, SpaceX. It's a consortium of defense and aviation heavy-hitters: Northrop would build the plane, and the rockets would be provided by United Launch Alliance (read: Boeing and Lockheed)."''
  6. [http://www.newspacejournal.com/2010/12/16/virgin-joins-forces-with-two-companies-on-ccdev/ Virgin joins forces with two companies on CCDev], ''NewSpace Journal'', 2010-12-16, accessed 2010-12-18.
  7. (2011-04-22). "Orbital may wind down its commercial crew effort". NewSpace Journal.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

spaceplanesprivate-spaceflightproposed-spacecraft