XCOR To Fly EZ-Rocket At X Prize Cup Countdown

SPACE TOURISM

The engine bay of the EZ-Rocket exposed. The EZ-Rocket is a modified Long-EZ homebuilt aircraft. The aircraft is powered by twin 400 lb thrust regeneratively cooled rocket engines and fueled by isopropyl alcohol and liquid oxygen. The EZ-Rocket includes an external composite fuel tank and an insulated internal aluminum liquid oxygen tank. The modifications were performed at XCOR Aerospace's Mojave, CA shop. Tests are performed at the Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center. The EZ-Rocket has also flown at EAA Oshkosh 2002, the largest airshow in the world, held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Credits: Credits: XCOR Aerospace.

Mojave CA (SPX) Aug 19, 2005
XCOR Aerospace has announced that the company will conduct multiple flight tests of the EZ-Rocket during the weekend of October 6-9 at the inaugural Countdown to the X Prize Cup in New Mexico.

Flights will take place between 11am and 5pm at the Las Cruces International Airport.

Piloting the EZ-Rocket during its several demonstration flights will be Col. Richard A. Searfoss ret. USAF, a former NASA Astronaut and Chief Judge of the Ansari X Prize.

"This is a marvelous chance for people to get up close and personal with rocket powered vehicles," said XCOR President Jeff Greason.

"If the new start-up launch industries, with the encouragement of such organizations as the X Prize Cup, can continue on our present course, there is no reason why such flights cannot become routine."

The EZ-Rocket, a modified Long-EZ airplane, is powered by two liquid-fuel engines, which have been designed, tested and built by XCOR Aerospace. "The EZ-Rocket is just a demonstrator, but it is also a crowd-pleaser," continued Greason.

"We flew it twice at AirVenture 2002, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and we are very pleased to bring the vehicle out of retirement for the Countdown to the X Prize Cup."

"The purpose of the Countdown to the X Prize Cup is to showcase the future of flight. This vehicle has helped pave the way to that future," said Mike Kelly, VP Operations for the X Prize Cup. "We couldn't be more excited to have XCOR and the EZ-Rocket coming to New Mexico to fly."

XCOR Aerospace, a California corporation located in Mojave, develops and produces safe, reliable, and reusable rocket engines and rocket-powered vehicles.

Based on the success of the Ansari X Prize, The X Prize Foundation has partnered with the state of New Mexico to present the X Prize Cup & Personal Spaceflight Expo, an annual event in Southern New Mexico. The Foundation will also assist in the development of the state's Southwestern Regional Spaceport.

The 2005 Countdown to the X Prize Cup activities, scheduled for October 6-9, includes a public symposium on the future of spaceflight at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces on October 6th; educational and public activities at the New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo on October 7-8; and a Personal Spaceflight Expo at the Las Cruces International Airport on October 9th from 11a-5p.

Beginning in 2006, the X Prize Cup & Personal Spaceflight Expo will be a week-long series of space-related events and launches.

Full details and e-tickets are available at www.xPrize.org.

SPACE TRAVEL

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