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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. Related Links XCOR Aerospace SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express 
Space Race 2: The Feds Weigh In
Cape Canaveral FL (UPI) Jan 11, 2005The Bush administration, with little fanfare, last week unveiled the first update in a decade to the country's official space transportation policy. |
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