XCOR Successfully Tests New Engine

ROCKET SCIENCE

XCOR to present at Space Access 03
It's that time of year again! The Space Access Society's annual meeting will be taking place on April 24th through the 27th, 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona. XCOR founders Jeff Greason, Dan DeLong and Aleta Jackson will make presentations on various aspects of XCOR's development, including new rocket engines, progress on the Xerus suborbital vehicle project and related techonology. CEO Jeff Greason will also give a seperate presentation about reusable rocket design considerations and tradeoffs.

Mojave - Apr 01, 2003
Today XCOR Aerospace announced that it has successfully completed multiple test firings of their new LOX/kerosene rocket engine, the XR-4K5. The new engine is considerably more powerful than the previous isopropyl alcohol fueled rocket engine used in the EZ-Rocket. The new engine produces 1,800 pounds of thrust, and runs at two and a half times the chamber pressure of the previous engine.

According to Dan DeLong, XCOR Chief Engineer: "This is XCOR's first engine designed to run on liquid oxygen and kerosene. The initial tests are in the heat sink configuration, and we expect to develop it further into a regenerative cooled version." DeLong stated: "The XR-4K5 also uses our most recent electrical igniter design that is smaller and lighter than previous generations."

Jeff Greason, XCOR CEO said: "We are very excited about the new engine since it moves us closer to our goal of a reliable and economical vehicle for space tourism as well as educational and commercial uses.

"The more powerful engine and use of readily available and nontoxic fuels is a notable development in reliability and cost control of operating suborbital vehicles. XCOR is developing the XR-4K5 for future applications, including the propulsion system for the Xerus project."

The Xerus (pronunciation: zEr'us) project is part of a joint marketing agreement between XCOR Aerospace and Space Adventures, Ltd., that provides Space Adventures the first 600 flights to 62 miles (100 km) altitude aboard XCOR's Xerus sub-orbital vehicle, designed specifically for space tourist flights.

According to a recent study by the Futon Corp., a Bethesda, MD aerospace consulting firm, the space travel market could generate revenues of over $1 billion annually by 2021.

ROCKET SCIENCE

SpaceX Performs First Engine Firings

El Segundo - Mar 28, 2003
New rocket entrant SpaceX has announced the successful firing of the company's Falcon rocket main engine earlier this month. While drawing upon the ideas of many prior launch vehicle programs from Apollo to the X-34/Fastrac, SpaceX is privately developing the entire Falcon rocket from the ground up, including both engines, the turbo-pump, the cryogenic tank structure and the guidance system.

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