Boeing plans to design an autonomous reusable launch vehicle, shown here in an artist’s concept, to lower satellite launch costs under a new contract for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency XS-1 Experimental Spaceplane program. The spaceplane booster would be designed to carry and deploy an upper stage to launch small satellites and payloads into low-Earth orbit and then return to Earth, where it could be quickly prepared for its next flight by applying operation and maintenance principles similar to those of modern aircraft. DARPA plans to hold a competition in 2015 for a follow-on production order to build the vehicle and conduct demonstration flights.

Under the $4 million preliminary design contract, Boeing plans to work on a reusable first stage launch vehicle capable of carrying and deploying an upper stage to launch small satellite payloads of 3,000 to 5,000 pounds (1,361 kg to 2,268 kg) into low-Earth orbit.