Delta Clipper was a proposed reusable single-stage launch vehicle and spacecraft developed in the 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. It was roughly conical, but with a squared base, and featured a hydrogen/oxygen aerospike main engine (later in development an alternate configuration using a cluster of conventional-nozzle engines was considered as well). After deploying a payload from a bay mounted in the midsection of the vehicle (between the LH2 and LOX tanks), Delta Clipper would perform a nose-first reentry, using flaps near the base of the vehicle for aerodynamic control, then flip around to propulsively land back at its launch site. Upgrades were also proposed for delivering crew and cargo to an orbiting space station, as well as to bring payloads back to Earth. Development was originally funded by the military under the Strategic Defense Initiative, intended to support replenishment of space-based defense systems like Brilliant Pebbles; As the SDI was shut down, it briefly came under the management of NASA

Delta Clipper was canceled before any hardware for the operational version began production. However, the 1/3 scale DC-X and DC-XA was built and flew 12 low-altitude demonstration flights to gain experience with propulsive landing and its unique aerodynamic design. DC-X was the first rocket to ever perform a propulsive landing on Earth

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