Xcor to Produce 2-Seat Rocket for Space Tourism

By Alexander Toldt
17:59, March 26th 2008
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Are you the adventurous type? Are you also rich? Then we have very good news for you:

A Californian aerospace company announced its big plans of developing the space tourisms industry by producing a two-seat rocket ship.

Aboard the small rocket ship called The Lynx, one could embark in suborbital flights at altitudes of approximately 37 miles, said developer Xcor Aerospace in a statement.

The company added that the Lynx, a rocket ship the size of a small private jet, will probably carry out its first suborbital flight in 2010.

The Lynx’s propulsion will be based on a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen. It will be powered by clean-burning, reusable, liquid-fuel engines and would be able to make several flights per day.

"We have designed this vehicle to operate much like a commercial aircraft," Xcor Chief Executive Officer Jeff Greason said in a statement.

The Californian company was also awarded a research contract to develop and test features of the Lynx by the Air Force Research Laboratory and now awaits the results of the negotiations.

The Lynx will take off from a runway as a normal jet and will be capable of reaching a top speed of Mach 2 and an altitude of 200,000 feet. Its design is similar with that of the Long-EZ homebuilt aircraft but at a smaller scale. Its wings are also located towards the rear of the fuselage.

The development of the Lynx was announced four month after SpaceShipTwo was unveiled by Virgin Galactic space tourism company.

Aerospace designer Burt Rutan and billionaire Richard Branson, who unveiled the first model of SpaceShipTwo, were very successful with SpaceShipOne, the rocket ship which in 2004 became the first privately funded, manned rocket to reach space.

However, the SpaceShipTwo developer gave more details about their project. The rocket ship will be flown by two pilots and will be able to take up to six passengers aboard. Each passenger would have to pay $200,000 for the trip.



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Tags: Xcor, Lynx
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