These pioneering payload integrators represent both large, established companies and start-up space entities run by seasoned executives and fresh new entrepreneurs from places like Asia, Europe, North America, and South Africa. XCOR will be adding additional specialist firms to the network in the coming months.

The first group of XCOR Lynx payload integration specialist firms include the following (in alphabetical order): the African Space Institute of Durban, South Africa; Cosmica Spacelines of Toulouse, France; NanoRacks of Lexington, Kentucky and Washington, D.C.; the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colorado; Space Chariots in Oxon, England; Space Experience Curaçao of the Netherlands and the Caribbean island of Curaçao; Spaceflight Services in Tukwila, Washington, Valencia, California, and Huntsville, Alabama; and Yecheon Astro Space Center, Yecheon, South Korea.

“This is a win-win for all of us,” said Jeff Greason, XCOR CEO. “XCOR will focus on what we do best, which is build and operate rocket powered vehicles, while our payload integration specialists will do what they do best, which is work closely with scientists and researchers and use their collective expertise to prepare payload missions to do real work in space.”

Dr. Alan Stern, Associate Vice President at SwRI, the former NASA Associate Administrator for Science and the Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Suborbital Researchers Group, noted “We are extremely excited about the capabilities that Lynx will bring to our many research clients at SwRI, so much so that we’ve already procured six flights for our own pathfinder and discovery missions to better understand how we can best serve our clients. As a trained researcher and test engineer, I can’t wait to fly with my experiments on Lynx and ring out the processes and procedures that will help our clients succeed, and help our Institute stay at the forefront of the 21st century.”

Each of the announced entities has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or contractual relationship with XCOR Aerospace creating a robust initial network of sales and payload integration specialist firms for the science, engineering, and education missions that will be flown on XCOR’s Lynx suborbital reusable launch vehicle. Some see Lynx as a strong compliment to their existing business models or as a tool to develop critical national science and education capabilities or inspire new ways of thinking and execution of space based research.

Jeff Manber, a seasoned space executive who runs NanoRacks, LLC, already has research platforms on the International Space Station (ISS) being used for commercial and educational research in the CubeSat form factor. Jeff noted “Having over 50 payloads from multiple nations already booked for the U.S. National Lab, we expect XCOR’s platform to be a solid first step for many of our customers to validate experiments that will go on to the Space Station. The ability to fly, test, learn, then adjust payloads on the ground and re-fly is extremely useful when perfecting a payload. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand XCOR’s value proposition.”

Brad Inggs, Founder and President of the African Space Institute noted “In South Africa, we are constantly on the lookout for innovative ways to build up the emerging commercial space industry and provide related educational opportunities to our community, so being a payload integrator for the XCOR Lynx platform not only offers a leap forward allowing affordable access to space for African payloads but also allows us to further generate local skills and jobs in the region.”

Garrett Smith, Founder and President of Cosmica Spacelines of Toulouse, France equates the partnership with XCOR as a cornerstone for greater ventures into space and touches on the enabling aspects of XCOR’s Lynx. He notes, “Through building a strong community of not only individual enthusiasts but corporate futurists, Cosmica Visionaries will lead Europe and the world towards a progressive future. XCOR will provide us with the capability to offer safe, reliable travel to the edge of space and beyond for the good of humanity.”

The XCOR payload integration specialist firms will support a variety of scientific, educational and engineering objectives including: atmospheric science, physics, microgravity research, planetary science, earth observation, life sciences, education and public outreach, and many others. Some firms such as NanoRacks already have capabilities on orbit at the ISS and will use Lynx as a qualification platform, others are teamed with launch services providers who have other on orbit resources like new commercial cargo and crew systems who will be using Lynx for precursor missions.

Jason Andrews, President of Andrews Space and Spaceflight Services commented, “We are working with experimenters and scientists who will be using the SpaceX unpressurized Dragon Lab capsule for standalone on-orbit research and transport of experiments to the ISS, so having the ability to test in the vacuum of space with XCOR’s Lynx platform prior to sending something up on a Falcon 9 is a very powerful tool for our customers.”

General Ben Droste (retired) is the former Chief of Staff for the Netherlands Air Force, lead the pre-curser to the Netherlands Space Office (the NASA equivalent), and is the current Chief Executive Officer of Netherlands-based Space Experience Curacao. General Droste noted, “The Netherlands has a long history of pioneering ventures in general and in particular with micro-gravity research and atmospheric studies, so as we prepare to take on our own wet lease of a Lynx vehicle for flights in Curacao, we will also be laying the groundwork and seeding the market for future suborbital research funded by private industry, government and groups like the European Space Agency (ESA).”

Each payload integration specialist firm will help facilitate and provision flight services on the Lynx by ensuring end users understand the packaging, environmental, safety, operational flight profile(s) and interface (physical, electrical and data) requirements of the Lynx for both automated experiments not requiring user intervention during flight, and those experiments when the scientist accompanies the payload to the edge of space. The integrators will provide a variety of additional value added services depending on their individual service offering and customer needs, including, but not limited to fabrication, test and qualification of experiments for the Lynx environment.

XCOR will be responsible for: (1) developing and periodically updating the Lynx interface control document, payload user’s guide and other payload related processes and procedures in consultation with the payload integration specialists, end customers and regulators; (2) operating an annual Lynx payload user’s group conference to solicit feedback and promulgate best practices across the payload integrators network and user community; (3) addressing any specific non-standard needs identified by payload integration specialists and their customers such as special flight trajectories or unique vehicle integration needs; (4) any special licensing or regulatory actions pertaining to the flight; and (5) with the integration specialist and customer, performing a final safety and pre-flight review meeting before the mission is flown and a de-briefing of the mission after flight.

Dr. Jae-Song Jo, Director of the Yecheon Astro Space Center noted, “We are impressed with the professionalism and excellent processes we’ve seen from XCOR and know that clients who demand precision and responsiveness will be well served. As we prepare for our own wet lease operations in the future, the early experience we gain by bringing South Korean and Asian science experiments to the US will only enhance that level of professionalism and establish us as a premier operator in Asia.”

On flight day, XCOR will receive payloads from the integration specialist (and/or customer), place it into one of the four cargo carrying locations on the Lynx, fly the payload on the mutually agreed upon trajectory, and return the payload to the researcher or payload integrator (as directed) within minutes of touchdown. From temporary airport-side storage or labs all the way to space and back to a runway-side lab is projected take under 30 minutes on a nominal flight with Lynx – a step function improvement over any capability available today and a strong compliment to other available systems.

Ray Bainbridge, CEO of UK-based Space Chariots, noted the synergies he sees between Lynx and terrestrial reduced gravity (drop tower and aircraft parabolic flights) and sounding rocket research when he said, “we offer low cost design, manufacture and reduced gravity test facilities as well as sounding rocket launches for academic research and the emerging private space industry, so having the ability to use Lynx as our suborbital reusable vehicle platform provides us with a full range of solutions for our customer requirements.”

Depending upon customer needs, the Lynx can carry as small as a 1kg (or smaller) payload as a “ride share” or “secondary payload”, and up to a 650kg large “primary” mission payload. Payloads may be carried as ride share or primary payloads in the Lynx pressurized cabin or be exposed to the unpressurized and harsh conditions of space. In the future, small nanosatellites may also be launched from the Lynx vehicle using an expendable upper stage launcher of XCOR design allowing innovative low earth orbit satellite applications, constellations, and the testing of new and advanced technologies to be used on larger satellites and manned flight vehicles.

Andrew Nelson, XCOR’s Chief Operating Officer added, “with the lowest cost of operations in the marketplace, ability to fly multiple times daily from sites around the world using our affordable ‘wet lease’ customer model, and our global reach with these trail blazing space entrepreneurs, Lynx is poised to become the de facto standard in suborbital reusable launch vehicle payloads for scientific, education and engineering purposes, and create high paying technical job clusters not only in the US, but everywhere Lynx operates.”

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XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies. XCOR is currently working with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, and concurrently building the Lynx, a piloted, two seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally. The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-commercial mission vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day and are being offered on a wet lease basis. Research, engineering, and educational communities interested in using the Lynx should contact Mike Massee or Andrew Nelson at XCOR directly regarding scientific, earth observation, materials science, upper-atmospheric weather research, micro-gravity experiments and other potential uses at www.xcor.com and XCOR will connect you to your nearest payload integrator specialist firm serving the Lynx community, or contact them directly. These include:

African Space Institute – www.afrispace.org
Cosmica Spacelines – www.cosmicaspacelines.com
NanoRacks, LLC – www.nanoracksllc.com
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) – www.swri.org
Space Chariots – www.space-chariots.com
Space Experience Curaçao – www.spaceexperiencecuracao.com
Spaceflight Services - www.spaceflightservices.com
Yecheon Astro Space Center – www.portsky.net

February 24th, 2011, Mojave, CA, USA: In a first for the reusable suborbital launch vehicle industry, XCOR Aerospace announced today that the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a commercial entity, has purchased six suborbital flights to carry SwRI experiments and payload specialists.  This is the first such contract SwRI has issued, and XCOR is proud to be chosen for this opportunity.

“When someone issues a commercial contract with their own money, it really means something,” said XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson. “XCOR feels SwRI signing their first contract with us demonstrates the superiority of the Lynx platform over others in the field.  We have the ability to fly up to four times a day, quickly perform an experiment and then return it to the customer.  In addition, we offer the best price in class versus the competition.”

Each of the six flights will include a SwRI trained principal investigator / payload specialist.  This group of talented individuals includes Dr. Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator for Science, Dr. Dan Durda who has flown research missions in NASA f-18s and Dr. Cathy Olkin, an experienced SwRI researcher and former NASA astronaut candidate. On these flights, the SwRI payload specialists will perform research using biomedical, microgravity, and astronomy imaging experiments conceived and prepared for flight at SwRI. SwRI has an option to purchase three additional flights at any time, providing more value significant flexibility for experimental research.

“These are exciting times for the suborbital research field,” said Dr. Stern. “XCOR and SwRI are blazing a pioneering trail with this engagement and setting the stage for others to follow with their experiments.”

The capabilities of the Lynx, in particular its responsiveness and low cost of operation provide SwRI and other clients with an unprecedented ability for quick turnaround of key experiments or precious and sensitive samples. Lynx operations will allow customer experiments to go from a runway-side storage facility to the vehicle, then fly to space on a customized flight trajectory and back to an airport-side laboratory in under 30 minutes.  The Lynx offers a level of sample security and assurance not found in other suborbital systems today, while the cost of a Lynx operation is an order of magnitude less than traditional sounding rocket systems.

The Lynx suborbital vehicle is also a robust data collection system with four distinct payload carrying opportunities as either primary or secondary payloads, with locations within the pressurized Lynx cabin or externally exposed to the vacuum of space and the thin air of the upper atmosphere.  Payload mass can range from under 1 kg to over 650 kg.

“SwRI is a recognized leader in the field,” said Jeff Greason, XCOR Chief Executive Officer. “They are one of the best research firms in the world for space science and engineering, and their researchers have a phenomenal ability to explore innovative concepts. I look forward to the pioneering work this partnership will achieve.”

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XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies. XCOR is working with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, and concurrently building the Lynx, a piloted, two-seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally, and serves three primary missions: nano-satellite launch, research & scientific missions, and private spaceflight.  The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-mission commercial vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day and are being offered on a wet lease basis.  www.XCOR.com

Southwest Research Institute is an independent, nonprofit, applied engineering and physical sciences research and development organization using multidisciplinary approaches to problem solving. SwRI occupies more than 1,200 acres and provides more than 2 million square feet of laboratories, test facilities, workshops and offices for more than 3,000 employees who perform contract work for government and industry clients. In support of one its largest programs, SwRI researchers working from San Antonio and Boulder, Colo., lead an array of space science projects, including the development of scientific payloads for satellites and sounding rockets, the design and management of complex hardware and data systems, and the study of solar system and astrophysical objects.

November 17, 2010, Mojave, CA: Today KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced to the Netherlands press that they were embarking upon a new relationship with Space Experience Curaçao (SXC). KLM will be supporting future suborbital flights through purchases, inclusion in their frequent flyer program, inclusion in future KLM vacation packages to Curacao, and other yet-to-be-named support.  The flights will be made on the XCOR Lynx suborbital spacecraft.

Last month SXC and XCOR Aerospace jointly announced the intent of SXC to lease a production version of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft, pending United States government approvals to station the vehicle on the island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles.  With a planned start date in January 2014 SXC and now KLM will market and sell flights.  XCOR will provide operational support for the vehicle at Space Port Curaçao.

On the front page of De Telegraaf, the largest circulation Dutch newspaper, KLM Chief Executive Officer Peter Hartman said of the new relationship and suborbital spaceflight: “It is a fantastic project that totally fits the pioneering spirit of KLM.”  This history includes operating the longest regularly scheduled air service in the world throughout the 1920s, and opening their first transatlantic service in 1934 between Amsterdam and Curacao.

SXC Founder and former Royal Netherlands Air Force Chief of Staff Ben Droste referred to the exploration and entrepreneurial spirit the Dutch have demonstrated for over five centuries and noted their logical extension to space. “This is a project that completely fits our VOC tradition (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, aka the Dutch East India Company). The Dutch have successfully traversed the world’s seas, pioneered long distance air travel, and now have set our sights on space.”

XCOR’s CEO, Jeff Greason noted, “XCOR is very pleased that the market’s acceptance of Lynx is accelerating. Our approach to space travel offers the simplicity, low cost structure, environmental sensitivity, history of accomplishment, and excitement that clients want in their spacecraft company.”

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XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies. XCOR is working with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, and concurrently building the Lynx, a piloted, two seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally.  The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-commercial mission vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day and are being offered on a wet lease basis.  www.XCOR.com

Space Experience Curaçao (SXC) was founded in 2008 to lead the world in providing commercial space launch facilities and suborbital flight services from the Caribbean island of Curaçao.  SXC intends to offer suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions out of Space Port Curaçao.  SXC is led by its two founders and Managing Partners, former Royal Netherlands Air Force Chief of Staff, Ben Droste and active Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 pilot, Harry van Hulten.  General Droste (retired) also led the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR), the precursor of today’s Netherlands Space Office, and NASA’s counterpart in the Netherlands and was Professor and Dean of the Aerospace Faculty at the prestigious Delft University of Technology.  Major Harry van Hulten, is a graduate of the US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, was assigned to Edwards AFB as an F-16 test pilot, and is involved in the F-35 program for the Netherlands Air Force, the lead international customer for this fifth generation US fighter aircraft. Harry is also a distinguished former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan veteran.  He has a special dispensation to participate as a founding Managing Partner of SXC while performing his military duties.  www.SpaceExperienceCuracao.com

October 5th, 2010, Mojave, CA and Curaçao: Space Experience Curaçao (SXC) and XCOR Aerospace, Inc. jointly announced today the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the wet lease of a production version of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft, pending United States government approvals to station the vehicle on the island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles.  With a planned start date in January 2014, SXC will market, and XCOR will operate, suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions out of Space Port Curaçao.

Recently, the Curaçao government and airport authority announced their intentions of investigating and creating the conditions suitable for the formation of a vibrant and active commercial space flight services industry.  An investigation of the legal and regulatory framework necessary to enable a robust flight services industry in Curaçao has commenced. investment in the spaceport infrastructure and operator has been committed and made by Curaçao Airport Holding, N.V., the company responsible for overseeing Curaçao airport operator.  SXC is the entity chosen by the Curaçao government and airport holding company to create a robust suborbital space flight business focused on research missions, space tourism, and science & technology education. SXC has in turn selected the XCOR Lynx as its vehicle of choice for Curaçao operations.

“SXC has chosen the Lynx due to its innovative but straightforward and robust design, as well as its enormous commercial potential and competitive viability” said Ben Droste, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SXC.    “The combination of the Lynx experience with the beautiful and highly suitable location of the Caribbean Island of Curaçao is a winning experience in our book.   Spaceflight participants will not only have the incredible experience of flying in XCOR’s Lynx spacecraft beyond Earth’s atmosphere, they will have the added benefit of taking off from and returning to one of the world’s best vacation destinations.”

“Space Experience Curaçao, with the strong support of Curaçao Airport Holding, has worked diligently to secure this MOU with XCOR” remarked SXC Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Harry Van Hulten, “with the full support of the government of Curaçao, the Netherlands and thanks to the vision and entrepreneurial spirit of Curaçao Airport Holding, SXC is in the position of making this first concrete step in procuring a Lynx Mark II wet lease contract.”

“Building on our international wet-lease agreements model, XCOR is committed to continuing coordination efforts with the US Departments of State, Defense and Commerce and other relevant US agencies regarding export control and operation of suborbital vehicles at non-US locations,” said XCOR COO, Andrew Nelson.  “We think the wet lease model enables us to address these issues, while allowing us to continue to create new high technology jobs, compete effectively in international markets, and provide our clients like SXC, and their clients, an incredible experience and valuable service – we can’t wait to fly from Curaçao!”

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XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies. XCOR is working with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, and concurrently building the Lynx, a piloted, two seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally.  The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-commercial mission vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day and are being offered on a wet lease basis. www.XCOR.com.

Space Experience Curaçao (SXC) was founded in 2008 to lead the world changing trend in providing commercial space launch facilities and suborbital flight services from the Caribbean island of Curaçao in the Netherlands Antilles, and soon to be an independent governing entity as part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  SXC intends to offer suborbital space tourism flights and scientific research missions out of Space Port Curaçao.  SXC is led by its two founders and Managing Partners, Harry van Hulten and Ben Droste who share a wealth of personal experience in flying and testing fighter aircraft, and managing large and complex aerospace organizations and institutions.  Lt. General Ben Droste (retired) has amassed over 4000 hours in high performance jet fighter aircraft including the F-16. His military career culminated in his appointment as Commander in Chief of the Royal Netherlands Air Force where he was heavily engaged in peace keeping and peace enforcing operations around the world including the former Yugoslavia and its many successful missions that helped secure an armistice in the Kosovo war in the spring of 1999. He has been nominated Commander in the Legion of Merit by the United States of America for his leadership in maximizing the ties between the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the United States Air Force in this and the preceding air wars over the Balkans and thereby maximizing the effectiveness of these air forces. Upon retirement in 2000 through 2009, General Droste led the Netherlands Agency for Aerospace Programs (NIVR), the precursor of today’s Netherlands Space Office, and NASA’s counterpart in the Netherlands. From 2003-2008, General Droste also became Professor and Dean of the Aerospace Faculty at the prestigious Delft University of Technology.  Major Harry van Hulten, is an active F-16 fighter pilot with the Netherlands Royal Air Force; he has over 3200 hours in 42 different aircraft types, of which 2500 hours are on the F-16. He is a graduate of the US Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base.  He spent an extra two years at Edwards AFB to test further innovative developments for the F-16.  Harry has been involved in the F-35 program for the Netherlands Air Force, the lead international customer for this fifth generation US fighter aircraft. Harry is also a distinguished former Yugoslavia and Afghanistan veteran.  He has a special dispensation to participate as a founding Managing Partner of SXC while performing his military duties. www.SpaceExperienceCuracao.com

XCOR Aerospace, Inc. announced today they have completed the primary supersonic wind tunnel testing of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft. The tests were performed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) using a precision scale  model and demonstrated the integrity of the Lynx aerodynamic shape and provided data to make final refinements to the vehicle.  These new data provide confidence that the Lynx aerodynamic shape will have stable and controllable flight throughout the range of Mach numbers and angles of attack needed for the Lynx mission.

The recent tests add to subsonic wind tunnel testing data obtained by XCOR late last year at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton.  As part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), XCOR, NASA and the Air Force will all benefit from the data.  The tests are a joint effort between XCOR and the AFRL’s Air Vehicles Directorate.  Lynx is a two-seat, single-stage winged suborbital vehicle that lifts off from a runway powered by non-toxic, reusable rocket engines. The vehicle can carry safely to the edge of space and back a pilot, one spaceflight participant, and engineering and scientific payloads. The Lynx can be flown up to four times a day with minimal touch labor between flights.

“We continue to make excellent progress on the Lynx aerodynamic shape,” said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason.  “The tests at MSFC gave us live information about the aerodynamic profile of the Lynx in transonic and supersonic flows, which occur during ascent and re-entry. We greatly appreciate the warm welcome and support we received at Marshall.”

The trisonic wind tunnel at MSFC, which also tested the Jupiter C, Saturn family, and Space Shuttle, evaluates the integrity and stability of rockets and launch vehicles with subsonic, transonic, and supersonic wind flows.

“Commercial space companies such as XCOR can benefit from NASA’s extensive facilities and experienced staff, while NASA benefits from the data generated by innovative designs such as the Lynx spacecraft and interaction with the US commercial space industry,” said Jeff Greason.

Andrew Nelson, XCOR COO added, “These tests complete another milestone toward delivering wet-lease Lynx vehicles and provide a great example of how government and commercial space entrepreneurs can work together to invigorate American industry and rebuild the Tier 2 and Tier 3 aerospace supplier base in our country.”

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XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies. XCOR is currently working with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, and concurrently building the Lynx, a piloted, two seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally.  The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-commercial mission vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day and are being offered on a wet lease basis.  Research, engineering, and educational communities interested in using the Lynx should contact XCOR directly regarding scientific, earth observation, materials science, upper-atmospheric weather research, and micro-gravity experiments at www.XCOR.com.  For the general public, advanced ticket sales for a return flight to the edge of space are available at www.RocketShipTours.com.

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When you were a kid, what did you imagine spaceflights would look like in the future?

Did you imagine space missions in a big rocket, or your own personal spaceship? For me, I always was fond of the idea of building my own personal spaceship, and traveling from planet to planet. It may be far off into the future, but then again, it may be closer than we all thought. Companies like XCOR remind me of that dream, and they are making those dreams a reality, one step at a time. I will briefly cover who and what XCOR is, and dive a little deeper with Mark Street, an Engineer with the company who I had the privilege to interview via e-mail.

What is XCOR?

Founded in 1999 in Mojave, CA, XCOR is a rocket engine, and sub-orbital space vehicle designer that is looking to send regular people up to space. They are currently designing a vehicle called the Lynx, which is a 1 pilot, 1 passenger vehicle which can take people from the ground to 200,000 ft (roughly 38 miles up) where you can experience the blackness of space, the beautiful curvature of the earth, and the feeling of weightlessness only a few have ever truly experienced. XCOR is working with Rocket Ship Tours, who will provide the sale of the tickets aboard the Lynx to any and all who want to ride. This is not your typical space rocket, it is more like a plane with a rocket strapped to its back (actually, that is exactly what it is…). Flight tests of this vehicle will start around 2011. After it has proven to be safe, and reliable, flights with people will most likely take place 9-18 months afterward at $95K (As the commercial sector grows, and proves it’s reliability and ability to carry people safely, I think there is a good chance this price could come down drastically).

I hate to belabor a point here (no I don’t…), but consider what this company is doing. This private company can design and fly a vehicle which can take you into the weightless environment of space! Considering this accomplishment, you would imagine this must be a huge company right? Actually, they have under 50 employees in the company working on this project. Since their founding, they have actually developed 11 different rocket engines, and 3 different rocket vehicles! It is amazing to think that such a small company, can accomplish such big things. The people at XCOR have a passion to visit space themselves, and they realized the only way to do that was to help make it cheap for everyone else. I greatly admire that they took the future of private spaceflight into their own hands. They realized space belongs to everyone, and there should be a way for everyone to visit it. I had the privilege to interview Mark Street of XCOR, who gave me more info about his work, the Lynx vehicle, and his thoughts on private space travel.

Interview with Mark Street

How long have you been working for XCOR?

I started work as an engineer at XCOR five years ago.  Because the company is small (under 50 employees), there is little compartmentalization and we tend to wear many hats and work on a range of projects.  I typically focus on aerodynamic, structural, and fluid system engineering.

What do you think separates XCOR from the other sub-orbital companies out there?

XCOR’s strengths in the suborbital market are our propulsion technology and our rocket operations experience.  We’ve been building efficient, reliable rocket engines for 10 years and we have flown two rocket-powered airplanes a total of 66 times.  That operational experience has helped us to design the suborbital Lynx for very high reliability at a minimum per-flight cost.  While we think our approach has great advantages, we’re looking forward to the day when many companies using a variety of architectures and vehicles are providing suborbital flights.

Besides the fun rides, what scientific fields do you think would benefit the most from doing research aboard the lynx?

In the last few years, more and more of the space science community caught on to the potential of regular, inexpensive suborbital flights as a research tool.  There is now a substantial pool of interested researchers who are looking for a chance to fly their experiments on short flights out of the atmosphere.  We’re designing the Lynx to serve as much of that market as we can, including atmospheric sampling, zero gravity research, and astronomy missions. A detailed description of the Lynx payload capability is online at www.XCOR.com.

The best thing Lynx offers these scientists is the chance to fly frequently, on-demand, at a low price.  Rather than waiting months for a sounding rocket to become available, researchers will be able to fly their payloads on Lynx multiple times per week (or even per day).  And in some cases, the scientists will be able to fly with their experiments, allowing them to monitor and control their tests during the flight.

Beyond the Lynx, any hope for orbital, or lunar missions?

XCOR sees suborbital flight as a stepping stone on the way to orbit, and our chief engineers are charting a technology path in that direction.  There’s a lot we can learn by flying tothe edge of space and back, but ultimately, most people in the field want to build vehicles that will take them to orbit and beyond.  We certainly do!

**Side note…Wahoo! Ok back to Mark…**

What do you think is important for people to recognize about commercial/private space travel, and what do you think is significantly important about what you and XCOR are hoping to accomplish that regular people can appreciate?

Commercial space is space for everyone.  There are no gatekeepers - anyone in good health will be able to ride on the Lynx.  At first, the cost of a ticket will be high, but with multiple competing companies the price will gradually fall until you and I will be able to afford a flight into space.   If the first commercial space companies can prove that there is profit to be made in space, we hope to open the floodgates for both investors and customers in space.  Once markets are established and profits are flowing, those funds will be used to research new technologies and develop new vehicles that will further decrease the cost of access to space. We have a long road ahead of us, but commercial space has the potential to gradually expand our capabilities from suborbital space into orbital operations and eventually beyond into deep space. Ultimately, tapping into the vast material wealth and energy resources beyond Earth’s orbit could provide profound benefits not just to the people living and working on the space frontier, but also to those who stay behind on Earth.

XCOR is committed to working with the US Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and other agencies of the US government to comply with relevant laws, regulations, policies and procedures.  XCOR has engaged specialized export control consultants from the Commonwealth Consulting Group of Arlington, Virginia, and legal counsel from the Washington, D.C. office of the international firm Bingham McCutchen, to assist in this first of a kind effort.

“This is a ground breaking opportunity for our company, our industry and a very good opportunity for the U.S. to set an example of responsible international commerce in space transportation,” said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason.  “To our knowledge, this is the first time that a US commercial suborbital launch vehicle will undergo the export licensing and approval process. We believe there is no better pathfinder than with our partners at the South Korean Yecheon Astro Space Center.”

Yecheon Astro Space Center is a non-profit entity that operates multiple space related activities including: aerospace training center; astronomy research center; planetarium; a commercial space camp with centrifuge; and commercial helicopter tourism operation in the South Korean State of Gyeongsangbuk-do, approximately 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of Seoul.

Working closely with its partners, Yecheon Astro Space Center has formed a broad coalition of regional and national entities to fund the approximately $30 Million project to bring the Lynx to Yecheon for space tourism, educational, scientific and environmental monitoring missions, making it the early leader in commercial manned space flight in Asia. Under the envisioned arrangement, Yecheon will be the exclusive Lynx operational site in Korea.

“As part of our long term strategic plan, we have performed an extensive review of the suborbital vehicle suppliers over the past 18 months, and found XCOR’s Lynx to be the best mix of safe design, reliable clean propulsion, skilled team members, full reusability, ease of operation, turn around time, upfront cost and long term cost to operate,” said Mr Jo Jae-Seong, Founder and Chief Executive Director of Yecheon Astro Space Center.  “We look forward to a long term relationship with XCOR and Lynx!”

“This is an incredibly important development for the New Space industry charting a course for other innovative US companies to flourish here and abroad. It will produce high paying manufacturing jobs, and allow the innovative spirit of America to take root and grow a new industry before international participants can catch up,” said XCOR Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Nelson, adding, “I think the wet lease model is an innovative means to safely operate, maintain and provide physical security for the Lynx while ensuring that US export control issues are addressed completely.

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XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies for responsive private space flight, scientific missions, upper atmospheric research, and small satellite launch to low earth orbit. The Lynx is a piloted, two seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally.  The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-commercial mission vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day.  XCOR’s web address is: www.xcor.com.

Yecheon Astro Space Center (formerly called the Yecheon Astronomy Foundation) is a non profit educational and research entity established in the city of Yecheon-gun, state of Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea.  The Center is home to: an astronomical research center that houses a collection of research telescopes and auxiliary telescopes, and other research apparatus; a space camp training center with centrifuge, aerial rooftop training device and reduced gravity simulators; a planetarium; a conference center and dormitories; and a helicopter tour operation. The Center’s web site is: www.portsky.net.

NEW YORK, June 22 – Ensemble Travel® Group today announced that it has entered into a partnership with Rocketship Tours, a company dedicated to making space travel accessible and relatively affordable to those who aspire to such an out-of-this-world adventure.

            This unique space experience includes a five-day, four-night training program at a deluxe resort in Arizona, medical evaluation and screening, and cancellation insurance. Guests will travel to the edge of space in the suborbital Lynx rocket ship, powered by environmentally friendly rocket engines. Unlike other programs, the RocketShip Tours adventure is truly intimate, pairing just a single passenger on each flight – who sits in the co-pilot’s seat – next to the astronaut-pilot who’s flying the space vehicle.

The Lynx rocket ship is being built in Mojave, Calif. by XCOR Aerospace, headed up by Jeff Greason, who was recently named to a White House panel to review NASA space flight programs. Once completed next year, the space vehicle will undergo a series of test flights in preparation for its official launch in 2011. RocketShip Tours, headed by travel pioneer and entrepreneur Jules Klar, is the exclusive global provider of passenger services for the Lynx.

Due to the unique nature of the experience, travel agents are required to complete RocketShip Tours’ online university study program to become a Space Tourism Specialist before selling the space flights. The training prerequisite speaks to the extreme professionalism of how this program is managed, according to Suzanne Hall, Ensemble Travel Group’s senior director of marketing and development, land products.

“We are so privileged to be in partnership with Rocketship Tours, knowing the potential that this product can bring to our members’ portfolio of special experiences for clients,” says Hall. “Space flight is a life-long dream for those who are passionate about science and research and space. In fact, for them it may not even be viewed as a luxury but a life-altering, personal fulfillment.”

Roberta Sonnino, president of Roberta Sonnino Travel in New York and the first Space Tourism Specialist among Ensemble Travel Group members, has been pleased with the response from customers about this new special space adventure, with one client saying, “In our quest to be always ahead of the curve in travel, Roberta Sonnino Travel offered us, with great enthusiasm, the ultimate experience in this unique voyage into space!”

“RocketShip Tours is looking forward to working with the members of Ensemble Travel Group for the sale of participant seats on the Lynx rocket ship going to the edge of space,” says Klar, who got his start in the travel business in 1961 when he co-founded $5-A-Day Tours with Arthur Frommer. “We’re particularly pleased with the overwhelming response from member agencies who will be part of promoting space tourism as the next exciting, great travel frontier.”

Laura Lukasik of Viking Travel in Westmont, Ill. was among the first Ensemble Travel Group members to complete the Space Tourism Specialist program. “I’m always looking for travel adventures that are unique and different – experiences that truly create a ‘wow factor’. What’s more unique and different than traveling into space?” asks Lukasik. “And the best part is that I’m among an elite group of agents who can actually take them there. I talked briefly about my new Space Tourism Specialist certification at a local networking meeting and to say they were very impressed was an understatement!”

About Ensemble Travel® Group

Founded in 1968, Ensemble Travel® Group is a proactive, member-owned international organization of nearly 900 professional travel agencies in the U.S. and Canada. With a membership that represents billions of dollars in travel sales each year, Ensemble Travel Group has achieved a 40-year record of boosting members’ profits and delivering high-volume sales to its preferred suppliers. To learn more about Ensemble Travel Group, call (800) 442-6871 or visit www.ensembletravel.com.

 
The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee will examine ongoing and planned NASA activities and present options for a safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable human space flight program after the retirement of the space shuttle. The committee, which includes independent experts from a variety of backgrounds – academic, military, private industry and NASA – will present its results to the Obama administration.

“I am honored to be asked to serve on the committee. Each of the distinguished members brings unique experience and perspective to this challenge,” said Greason. “I am deeply committed to seeing the enormous potential of space made a reality. I will apply my experience in the aerospace and information technology sectors to help the committee carefully explore the choices we face. 

The blue-ribbon panel is charged with assessing architecture options, taking into account these objectives: 1) expediting a new U.S. capability to support use of the International Space Station; 2) supporting missions to the Moon and other destinations beyond low Earth orbit; 3) stimulating commercial space-flight capabilities; and 4) fitting within the current NASA budget.  

XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave, California. The company is in the business of developing and producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket-powered vehicles and propulsion systems that enable affordable access to space.

XCOR CEO Jeff Greason