Current Flight Projects and Test Activities

- April 2008 -


Prospector 9
Several RLV-related demonstration flights are planned for this vehicle as a follow-on to the Prospector 7 under our Phase II SBIR program with AFRL/PR and SMC.  The P-9 configuration features several major improvements over the previous NLV / RLV prototypes, including the 4.5K lbf-thrust engine previously demonstrated on the P-8 and full-scale composite propellant tanks from Scorpius SLC.  Future configurations will have even more capability once we implement thrust vector control.  The first set of low-altitude P-9 flight tests are now scheduled for mid-2008 pending clearance of several programmatic milestones.

Prospector 10
The P-10A features a next-generation aerospike engine and is in the final phases of integration for a near-term static fire test.

Prospector 11
Wireless networking testbed vehicle for NASA Ames.   Launch is anticipated in mid-2008

Prospector 12
This will be the second vehicle development and flight project sponsored under Task 3.3. of the U.S. Department of Labor / California Space Authority's WIRED program.  Objectives include student mentoring and the manifesting of payloads from other WIRED partners.   Launch is scheduled for September 2008.


Last Updated: 14 April 2008