by NASA

“ On July 2, 1996, NASA competitively selected Lockheed Martin for a government-industry partnership to design, build and fly the experimental X-33 rocket plane. The X-33 vehicle will demonstrate advanced technologies to dramatically increase launch vehicle safety, reliability and lower the cost of putting a pound of payload into space from $10,000 to $1,000. ”

“ Louis, MO. The government team includes NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, the program manager; Ames Research Center, Mountain View, CA; Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Mojave, CA; Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD ”