Mike Massee / XCOR
XCOR – The Future of Space Travel
by Joel Champagne
Today I walked into a Beverly Hilton conference room and was transported directly into space. Or at least it felt that way. Xcor’s new space plane, the Lynx Mk. 1, brings the childhood dream of becoming an astronaut down to earth. It turns that mythical concept of flying beyond the earth’s grasp into a flight so simple, you wonder why no one ever thought of it before
At first it seemed like just another fancy project to shoot pilots in a tin can at the sky. It wasn’t until the test pilot, Rick Searfoss, talked of not only going into space, but bringing his wife (who hates flying) along with him, that it registered. When the Lynx becomes a finished product, the weightlessness of space will be closer than most foreign countries. Add in the fact that the Lynx is fully reusable, can take off from nearly any runway, and can be maintained by a 5 person crew with basic tools, and you have a shuttle that is orders of magnitude simpler than even some commercial airliners.
On top of all of this, Xcor is also environmentally friendly. Instead of using solid rocket fuel like its competitors, The Lynx uses a mixture of methane and liquid oxygen, that is safe to use and easy to produce. Its production takes 20 times less energy to create than normal rocket fuel. Add in the fact that the Lynx lands like a normal airplane and you have an amazingly efficient and extremely low cost space shuttle.
Xcor Aerospace was founded in 1999. In just nine years, Xcor has developed 10 completely revolutionary engines, including the LOX/methane 7,500 lb-thrust, regeneratively-cooled engine that powers the Lynx. In 2005, Xcor’s first attempt at space flight, the EZ Rocket, was a wild success, proving that a small, reusable rocket-powered space plane could break atmosphere cheaply and easily. It also broke the distance record for point-to-point rocket powered flight. The next step, the Lynx, is to bring a passenger along. After that? Who knows? But the main source of fuel, Methane, is plentiful throughout the solar system…
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a waiting list to get onto.
Additional images by Mike Massee / XCOR
March 26, 2008, private aerospace company XCOR announced, announcement, press conference, new design, latest spacecraft, Lynx
