| X-41 Common Aero Vehicle |
| Role |
Experimental manoeuvring re-entry vehicle |
| National origin |
USA |
| Status |
Experimental research programme |
| Primary user |
DARPA |
X-41 is the designation for a
still-classified U.S. military spaceplane.
Specifications or photos of the program have not been released to the
public yet; as a result not much is known about its goals. It has been
described as an experimental manoeuvring
re-entry vehicle capable of transporting a 1,000 lb payload on a
sub-orbital trajectory at
hypersonic speeds and releasing that payload into the
atmosphere.
The technology required for the X-41 is not yet known and is still
undecided by the government. It is believed a new type of hypersonic
travel is also being studied for the X-41 that will apparently be able
to travel past
Mach 7 and perhaps onto Mach 9.
This vehicle is now a part of the
FALCON (
Force
Application and
Launch from
Continental United States) program sponsored by
DARPA and
NASA.
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