Contractor Team for Space Plane OKd: NASA...

Contractor Team for Space Plane OKd: NASA and the Defense Department announced that they have formally approved a plan by five aerospace companies to put aside rivalries so that they can work on the National Aero-Space Plane as a team. The contractors agreed in January to end their competition for the lion’s share of the development of the plane by modifying their fixed-price contracts with the government to reflect the team concept. The companies are General Dynamics, McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell International, Rockwell’s Rocketdyne division and Pratt & Whitney. The plane, to be known as the X-30, would be a research vehicle capable of flying at 25 times the speed of sound.