Naomi Cooper
X-Bow Systems has partnered with the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory to conduct the second test launch of its Bolt Rocket at White Sands Missile Range.
The XL-2B mission demonstrated X-Bow’s new family of suborbital and orbital launch vehicles under the Responsive Development Experiment program, which enables LANL to use commercial space flight to collect experimental flight test data, the company said Wednesday.
Bolt is the first launch vehicle in X-Bow’s latest portfolio of modular boost rocket offerings and uses a 32-inch diameter solid rocket motor from the company’s Ballesta series.
X-Bow conducted Bolt’s initial flight test in June 2022 and expects to perform more frequent launches from various suborbital ranges once the rocket reaches the full production phase.
“Our partnerships with companies like X-Bow allow us to move much faster at much lower cost, and each flight gives us greater confidence in our teams, our technologies, and our ability to be responsive in a rapidly changing world,” said Steve Judd, program manager at LANL.
