Summary: The $1.3 billion X-33 Program, cosponsored by NASA and Lockheed Martin, is to develop and demonstrate advanced techniques and technologies needed for future reusable launch vehicles, including lightweight internal fuel tanks, advanced rocket engines, a durable heat shield, and rapid turnaround, low-cost operations. NASA and Lockheed-Martin expect the X-33 program to achieve technical requirements, such as demonstrating the feasibility of building large liquid hydrogen fuel tanks made of graphite composite material. However, the program will not meet some original cost, schedule, and performance objectives. Problems encountered by Lockheed Martin have increased costs, delayed the test vehicle's first flight, and revised some performance objectives. Resolving technical problems caused Lockheed Martin's estimated contribution to grow to $286.6 million--$75 million above the original estimate. Part of the increase, however, will be borne by the government. Procurement regulations allow companies to recover allowable independent research and development costs by including them as overhead in the pricing for other government contracts. Thus, Lockheed Martin's and its partners' shares may actually be lower. Also, estimated government costs for NASA civil service personnel working on the program not included in NASA's X-33 program budget also rose. Together, these estimated costs rose from nearly $217 million to more than $274 million, as of March 1999. As a result, GAO believes that a more accurate representation of the government's estimated share of the X-33 program is $1.23 billion, while industry's estimated share is $125.4 million. Several issues will need to be evaluated before NASA decides to use Venture Star reusable launch vehicles for the international space station. First, the results of the X-33 program must provide enough information for NASA to determine that the risks have been sufficiently reduced and that continuation of activities leading to the agency's use of Venture Star reusable launch vehicles is warranted. Second, even though Venture Star reusable launch vehicles are intended to be commercially owned and operated, government financial incentives will likely be needed to initiate such a venture. Third, NASA would have to pay for either two crew modules or modifications to Venture Star vehicles if the crew return vehicles being developed for the space station are chosen as a means for Venture Star to carry people. Fourth, because the Venture Star reusable launch vehicle would not carry as much cargo as the space shuttle, more flights would be needed. The more frequent docking activities could reduce the amount of stable time available for some science operations.
