Mojave Firm to Unveil New Space Ship

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XCOR Aerospace of Mojave, Calif. is expected to unveil plans today for a new entry in the suborbital spaceship business , a rocket-powered space plane to be known as the Lynx, Space.com reports.


The Lynx is being designed to carry a pilot and a passenger or payload on flights into suborbital space. Company officials are eyeing 2010 as the date for the inaugural launch of the vehicle.


Lynx is roughly the size of a small private airplane. It would be capable of flying several times a day making use of reusable, non-toxic engines to help keep the space plane’s operating costs low, according to company officials.


XCOR officials hope to obtain some funding from the Air Vehicles Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio to showcase the operationally responsive attributes of Lynx. That Small Business Innovation Research Phase II award is, however, pending successful contract negotiations and sign off by the Government Contracting Officer.


“There is a maximum value of $750,000 for Phase 2 of this contract. But the final amount depends on two things: the outcome of the contract negotiations, and then developing and flying the Lynx, XCOR Aerospace spokesman Doug Graham said. “We have several milestones we will have to meet. This is part of what is being negotiated.”


Details regarding the Lynx are scheduled to be made public March 26 at a media briefing held in Beverly Hills, Calif.



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