Hope X
Hope X is a former space shuttle project of former Japanese space agency NASDA ( National Space Development Agency ) in cooperation with the National Aerospace Laboratory of Japan ( NAL). Meanwhile, the two organizations in the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ( JAXA ) were combined, the project was not pursued further.
Development and construction
Hope X is based on the plans for the manned spaceplane project Hope ( H2 Orbiting Plane), which had to be discontinued due to financial problems in 1997, however, and also advanced plans for an unmanned transport shuttle. For both projects, the manned low-budget spaceplane Hope X was derived. Facing the Space Shuttle much smaller Hope X was primarily seen as a test vehicle. Subsequent modifications should for example allow transport missions to the International Space Station. Also, a larger, manned variant, Hope XA should follow.
Hope -X should have a length of 16.50 m, a wingspan of 12.00 m and a total mass of 13000 kg and a payload of 2000 kg. As support for Hope X a modified single-stage H-IIA rocket was provided, which should be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center. For the first test flight of a unique orbit was planned in an orbit of 120 to 200 miles and subsequent landing.
Test flights
OREX
The first test flight took place Experiment ( OREX ) under the name of orbital re-entry. The test specimen was a disc-shaped spacecraft of 3.40 m diameter, 1.46 m thickness and 865 kg take-off mass. It was coated with refractory material and containing temperature sensors. The purpose of the test flight was to test the controlled re-entry and the acquisition of measurement data on the temperature profile. The test specimen named Ryusei was taken on February 3, 1994 by an H2 rocket into orbit. After a mission in orbit at about 450 km altitude Ryusei re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and crashed as planned in the Pacific Ocean.
HYFLEX
The next test flight took place in February 1996 and was known as the Hypersonic Flight Experiment ( HYFLEX ). The experimental missile consisted of a space plane model of 4.40 m length, 1.04 m in height and weight in 1054. The model was placed on a suborbital trajectory of 110 km altitude with a rocket of the type J-1 from Tanegashima Space Center. During the journey, especially the active position control has been tested, which ensures that the correct entry angle and navigating to the planned landing site. HYFLEX went just 3 km from the targeted point at the island of Chichi -jima down on a parachute. A recovery after splashdown was planned, but HYFLEX sank in the ocean.
ALFLEX
The next series of test flights were carried out with a reduced model (37 % of the size ) of the planned space shuttle. The ALFLEX (Automatic Landing Flight Experiment ) had a length of 6.10 m, a height of 1.35 m and a mass of 760 kg. Thirteen successful test flights in the Australian Woomera were conducted in July and August 1996. Here, the ALFLEX was raised and notched, after which it then automatically sat on a horizontal runway of a helicopter.
HSFD
The last test flights were conducted under the name of High Speed Flight Demonstration ( HSFD ) in two phases.
Phase 1
For the test flights, a test device with its own jet engine was manufactured, which was completed in August 2002. It has 25 % of the planned size of Hope -X. The test area the Aeon was selected on the airfield belonging to Kiribati Kiritimati Island. The Japanese space agency maintains there is also a telemetry station for H- II launch.
The command to start the test aircraft was given remotely, then the unit is controlled entirely autonomous, rose to a pre-programmed amount and then went into a steep descent followed by a landing on the 1800 m long runway.
The three test flights took place with increasing demands on 18 October, 5 November and 16 November 2002. On the last flight, the aircraft climbed to an altitude of 5005 m and reached a maximum speed of Mach 0.46. It was about 18 minutes in the air.
Phase 2
The second phase of test flights took place in cooperation with the French space agency Centre National d' Etudes Spatiales ( CNES ) in Sweden. The test specimen had the same size as in Phase 1 (length 3.80 m, height 1.20 m) but this time was not self-propelled and was completed in March 2003. The test area was Esrange in Kiruna, Sweden selected.
The only test flight took place on 1 July 2003. The slider has been moved from a stratospheric balloon to an altitude of 21 km and then notched. In free fall, the slider reached after 29 s at a speed of Mach 0.8. Then the slider governed his attitude completely autonomous in order to keep the Mach number constant and then delayed to Mach 0.75. There were prepared 14 landing sites, and independently one of the gliders chose it from. Around four minutes after releasing the landing system should be activated at a height of 1300 m, so that the slide came down on parachutes. The impact should be cushioned by the airbag. The landing system failed, however, and the slider was damaged on impact.
This test program was first interrupted only temporarily, but then never received.