Xcor Aerospace, a company from California that has been developing rocket engines for the past nine years, announced its intention to join the space tourism competition. The plan is to have their mini-spacecraft, called Lynx, up and running by 2010. The ship, whose size is close to that of a private plane, will have two seats, thus allowing only one passenger on board. To make up for this inconvenient, the ship will be capable of performing up to four flights a day.

Once it takes off, the Lynx will reach a speed of Mach 2 and get as high up as 200,000 feet, thus offering the paying customer an unforgettable view. ”Lynx will be the greatest ride off Earth,” XCOR test pilot, former pilot, astronaut, and Space Shuttle commander, Col. Rick Searfoss recently stated (USAF-Ret.). In all, the duration of a flight will be of 30 minutes.

Everything is being prepared to ensure a maximum safety level of the flight. The pilot and passenger will wear helmets and pressure suits at all times. The Lynx will feature an escape capability but it will not come equipped with ejection seats.

Xcor Aerospace officials have not yet disclosed the estimated price for their future service. ”We don't usually discuss a lot of the details of our projects until the hardware rolls out and that's not so much because of some deep-seated desire to be secret as it is that we don't want to tie the hands of our engineers by saying too much too soon,” CEO Jeff Greason said.