XCOR’s Suborbital Two-Seater

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XCOR last week announced its “Lynx” two-place transport that will be designed for to speeds near Mach 2, reached during ascent to 200,000 feet and 30 minutes aloft. Former Space Shuttle commander and current XCOR test pilot, Rick Searfoss, is helping promote the aircraft as “the greatest ride on earth.” The vehicle will be powered by liquid-fueled engines that “are fully reusable, burn cleanly, and release fewer particulates than solid fuel or hybrid rocket motors,” according to XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. Lynx aims to treat passengers more like co-pilots than cargo — meaning they will ride up front, not in back, and XCOR hopes to have a fully operable Lynx by 2010.

The company hopes to offer Lynx to the space tourism market, making round trips “several times a day.” XCOR animation shows the aircraft departing the runway under its own power and returning in a glide. Occupants are shown wearing space suit helmets. XCOR CEO Jeff Greason defines his company’s mission as to radically lower the cost of spaceflight, because affordable access to space for everyone means far more than breathtaking views and the freedom of weightlessness.” Potential cost for the flights was not made available in XCOR’s press release.

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