This would not be wise policy. Why change what's working? A very effective organization in DoD was put together to pursue SSTO. They successfully built the DC-X1 vehicle on time and on budget. Estimates by standard USAF costing teams indicate that the DC-X1 would have cost over four times as much if it had been done by the Air Force using their usual management methods. Only 3% of the total cost of the DC-X1 was spent on government overhead and oversight; an enviable record.
Developing an effective organization and culture is often the hardest part of any project. Disbanding DoD SSTO efforts with their proven track record just doesn't seem to be a wise or cost-effective decision.
Continuing SSTO work in DoD will help DoD and NASA. Keeping DoD SSTO work going will keep the teams with the most experience on SSTO construction together and prevent NASA from needing to re-learn the experience which will be lost if DoD's team were to be disbanded. It can help to provide a seamless transition between DoD's work (starting with Science Dawn in the mid '80s and culminating with Have Region and the DC-X1) and any future NASA effort. Loss of this experience will hamper NASA and cause years of delay at huge cost. This is why NASA supports a complementary DoD X-33 effort.
DoD and NASA need each other. Current proposed FY '96 SSTO programs are integrated, cooperative efforts between NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Air Force Phillips Laboratory. These two organizations have been cooperatively planning together for a synergistic program to develop the X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD -- what in earlier years would have been termed an X-vehicle) SSTO and associated technology. Neither NASA or the Air Force can do it alone, due to each agency's limited budget constraints.
Initially, this cooperative effort will culminate with the DoD DC-X1 vehicle being refitted with advanced technologies purchased by NASA under their NRAs (NASA Research Agreements -- a joint partnership between NASA and industry, where industry provides matching funds and technology). The Air Force Phillips Laboratory will be responsible for ground and flight operations of the newly integrated vehicle. Flight tests of this upgraded vehicle, designated the "DC-XA", are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 1995.
v. 1 Wednesday 27 March 1995