Jim Cast
Headquarters, Washington, DC           July 29, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1779)

Dom Amatore
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
(Phone:  256/544-0031)

Barron Beneski
Orbital Sciences Corp., Dulles, VA
(Phone:  703/406-5528)

RELEASE:  98-136

X-34 COMPLETES CRITICAL MILESTONE

     The first wing assembly for NASA's X-34 technology 
demonstrator has completed qualification tests and has been 
shipped to the prime contractor, Orbital Sciences Corporation, 
Dulles, VA, where it has been mated to the X-34 test article under 
construction there.  

     Integration of the wing assembly with the test article 
fuselage marks a major milestone in the program.  Flights of the 
air-launched X-34 are scheduled to begin next year in conjunction 
with flights of its larger and more advanced sister ship, the X-
33.

     The newly qualified X-34 wing assembly, intended for flight, 
has been installed, initially, on a full-scale X-34 test article 
at Orbital.  The test article will be used for X-34 verification 
and certification.  This first wing assembly will ultimately fly 
aboard one of two flight vehicles also under construction at 
Orbital.

     The sub-orbital X-34 and X-33 vehicles will demonstrate key 
technologies -- at high speeds and high altitudes -- leading 
toward the development of full scale, commercially operated 
reusable launch vehicles after the turn of the century.  The 
ultimate objective of these efforts is to dramatically reduce the 
cost of placing payloads into space.

                           - end -