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The X-15 was based on a concept study from [[Walter Dornberger]] for the [[National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics]] (NACA) of a [[Hypersonic speed|hypersonic]] research aircraft.{{sfn|Käsmann|1999|p=105}} The [[Request for proposal|requests for proposal]] (RFPs) were published on 30{{spaces}}December 1954 for the airframe and on 4{{spaces}}February 1955 for the [[rocket engine]]. The X-15 was built by two manufacturers: [[North American Aviation]] was contracted for the airframe in November 1955, and [[Reaction Motors]] was contracted for building the engines in 1956.
Like many [[List of X-planes|X-series]] aircraft, the X-15 was designed to be carried aloft and [[drop test|drop launched]] from under the wing of a [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52]] [[mother ship]]. Air Force NB-52A, "The High and Mighty One" (serial 52-0003), and NB-52B, "The Challenger" (serial 52-0008, also known as ''[[Balls 8]]'') served as carrier planes for all X-15 flights. Release of the X-15 from NB-52A took place at an altitude of about {{convert|8.5|mi|km}} (45,000 feet) and a speed of about {{convert|805|km/h|mph|order=flip|sp=us}}.<ref name="E-4942">{{cite web |url=http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/X-15/HTML/E-4942.html |title=X-15 launch from B-52 mothership |publisher=Armstrong Flight Research Center |date=6 February 2002 |id=Photo E-4942}}</ref> The X-15 fuselage was long and cylindrical, with rear [[Aircraft fairing|fairings]] that flattened its appearance, and thick, dorsal and ventral wedge-fin stabilizers. Parts of the fuselage (the outer skin<ref name=NASA-FS>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/armstrong/news/FactSheets/FS-052-DFRC.html|title=NASA Dryden Fact Sheets - X-15 Hypersonic Research Program|first=Yvonne|last=Gibbs|date=13 August 2015|website=NASA}}</ref>) were heat-resistant [[nickel]] [[alloy]] ([[Inconel]]-X{{spaces}}750).{{sfn|Käsmann|1999|p=105}} The retractable [[landing gear]] comprised a nose-wheel carriage and two rear skids. The skids did not extend beyond the ventral [[fin]], which required the pilot to jettison the lower fin just before landing. The lower fin was recovered by parachute.
===Cockpit and pilot systems===
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