Xcor to offer
$100,000 space flights
March 2008
The Mojave-based XCOR Aerospace company has thrown down the gauntlet to Ricard Branson's Virgin Galactic by promising rides to the edge of space for $US100,000.
That's about half the price Sir Richard Branson's company is charging.
True, Xcor's small spacecraft - roughly the size of a small business jet - will not travel to the heights planned for Virgin galactic's SpaceShip Two, but paying passengers will still get the thrill of being in space and experiencing weightlessness.
Xcor's customers get to experience up to 90 seconds of weightlessness, compared to the three to four minutes being offered by Virgin Galatic.
The Lynx is somewhat of a two-seater "space taxi", designed to carry a pilot and a passenger and capable of flying 61 kilometres (37 miles) above the Earth.
A single paying customer will sit beside the pilot, offering them spectacular views of the earth.
The Lynx is expected to be ready for test flights by 2010. It's not clear yet whether commercial flights will begin the same year.
The Lynx has been in development for the past three years.
Roughly the same size as a private jet, it will run on kerosene and liquid oxygen and will reach twice the speed of sound.
The Lynx will have a pressurised cabin but the pilot and passenger will wear helmets and pressure suits for safety.
The viability of the spacecraft is borne out by a recent U.S. Air Force announcement that Xcor was awarded a small-business research contract to demonstrate the capabilities of the Lynx. The U.S. fleet of space shuttles is scheduled to be retired in 2010 and the Air Force is looking for alternative spacecrafts to fill the void.
Jeff Greason, the CEO of XCOR, said the Lynx's kerosene and liquid oxygen engines are environmentally friendly.
"They are fully reusable, burn cleanly, and release fewer particulates than solid fuel or hybrid-rocket motors."
He said the spacecraft will be a boon for both individuals and institutions.
"The Lynx will offer affordable access to space for individuals, researchers and educators."
And it's not just the company CEO who's impressed with the craft's performance and capabilities.
XCOR test pilot Colonel Rick Searfoss, a former pilot astronaut and space shuttle commander, said: "The acceleration, the weightlessness, and the view will provide you with an experience that is out of this world.
"Lynx will be the greatest ride off earth. The acceleration, the weightlessness and the view will provide you with an experience that is out of this world. And the best part of it all is that you'll ride right up front, like a co-pilot, instead of in back, like cargo."
Xcor Aerospace - background information