Posted on 05/06/2004 5:16:23 PM PDT by BenLurkin
MOJAVE - XCOR Aerospace, home to cutting-edge rocket engine technology, is now the proud recipient of the nation's second space launch license. The company's neighbor at Mojave Airport, Scaled Composites, was granted the first-ever space launch license in April.
XCOR's license differs somewhat in that it authorizes a rocket vehicle take-off from the ground. Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne, in contrast, is air-launched from a carrier aircraft.
The license also is unusual in that it was granted for a vehicle that is not yet built, said Rich Pournelle, XCOR's director of business development.
"We've developed most of the technology to go inside the vehicle," but not the airframe itself, he said. "It's just basically on the drawing board.
"We wanted to get permission first before we started committing resources to building the vehicle," Pournelle added.
Announcement of XCOR's license has drawn interest in the company and its efforts from around the world, he said.
XCOR, already successful in demonstrating its rocket engine technology with the EZ-Rocket airplane, has a marketing agreement with Space Adventures Ltd. to offer suborbital flights in the Xerus, its next-generation rocket vehicle under development.
The vehicle will carry a pilot and passenger to an altitude of 62 miles during a one-hour flight. The passenger will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see Earth from space.
XCOR's launch license, however, is not for the Xerus but an intermediate vehicle to develop and prove the technologies ultimately needed for the final, commercial passenger enterprise, Pournelle said.
Like the future Xerus, this vehicle will be manned, carrying a pilot and passenger, he said.
The license authorizes a series of up to 35 flights during the test program, until Dec. 31, 2006, according to the FAA.
Before the company can use the launch license, its launch site - Mojave Airport - must be licensed by the FAA. The airport's application has been deemed "sufficiently complete" and a decision on the license is expected in the coming months.
"I have no reason to believe there are any show-stoppers," said Stuart Witt, East Kern Airport District general manager.
The launch site operator license, commonly referred to as a spaceport license, will allow the airport to host horizontal launches of suborbital vehicles.
"We're confident the Mojave Airport spaceport application will be complete by the time we're able to fly," Pournelle said.
With XCOR's license, the airport is home to the only two horizontally launched vehicle license-holders in the country. The airport soon may be the only inland spaceport to accommodate them.
The success of these programs and others like them will be necessary to jump-start the fledgling commercial space launch industry.
"I think the industry still needs a major success to receive adequate amounts of investment to move it forward," Witt said. To that end, industry-watchers are keeping an eye on the $10 million X-Prize competition, in which Scaled Composites is a favored entry.
The second U.S. launch license was presented to the start-up rocket science company April 23 during the annual Space Access Conference in Phoenix. The timing was not a complete surprise because the date marked the end of a 180-day window for the FAA to consider the application.
"They took the whole 180 days to respond," Pournelle said. "We hope in the future it won't take this long. We think we can work with the regulators."
The award marked the end of a long, pioneering regulatory journey for the company. The process took months of give and take with officials of the FAA's Office of the Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Travel, covering new ground in terms of what would be required of this emerging field of nongovernmental space operators.
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