NASA's X-43C hypersonic demonstrator and RS-84 reusable engine program have been canceled following a review of 140 programs inherited by the agency's new Office of Exploration Systems.

The review, completed last week, assessed each program for its applicability to NASA's new space exploration goals (DAILY, March 18.) The X-43C "did not fit our particular needs at this particular point for an exploration systems development program," exploration office head Rear Adm. Craig Steidle told lawmakers during a House Space and Aeronautics subcommittee hearing in Washington March 18.

The X-43C was a larger follow-on to the X-43A "Hyper-X" demonstrator, which is scheduled to make its second Mach 7 flight attempt on March 27 (DAILY, Feb. 18). The exploration office will fund the X-43A for a third flight attempt at Mach 10 if it performs well in its second flight, according to Steidle.

NASA's hypersonics efforts were part of its Next Generation Launch Technology (NGLT) program, which was inherited by Steidle's office when it was formed in January. Hypersonics work at NASA will continue, Steidle said, with NASA's Office of Aeronautics paying for procurement and the exploration office paying for other expenses.

The RS-84 was a reusable kerosene engine being developed by Boeing to power future next-generation reusable launch vehicles (DAILY, Dec. 9, 2002). The RS-84 also "did not fit at this particular time," Steidle said.

NGLT, the RS-84, and the Orbital Space Plane (OSP) all were part of NASA's Space Launch Initiative (SLI), which no longer exists as a formal program. SLI efforts that have been deemed valuable will continue within the exploration office's Transportation Systems division, according to Steidle. Former NGLT director Garry Lyles will be deputy director for Transportation Systems, Steidle said.

Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) asked Steidle to provide a rundown of the disposition of each program that existed under SLI.

Review results

The full results of the program review have not yet been briefed to NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, Steidle told The DAILY. Of the 140 programs assessed, roughly a third of them are "very relevant" to human space exploration, a third are relevant to robotic exploration, and roughly a quarter need to be restructured to focus on exploration, Steidle said.

For the remaining programs, "I have to go back to other [NASA] enterprises and say, 'This doesn't fit in exploration, it fits in your area,'" Steidle said.