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XCor Receives Sub-Orbital Launch Permit
Marc Newman writes "MSNBC is reporting that XCor has received the second FAA suborbital launch permit. Xcor Aerospace is not competing in the X-Prize but rather is 'in it to make money'. They are still awaiting a launch permit for their Mojave desert launch site. It'd be interesting if XCor beat Scaled Composites with the first sub-orbital flight but couldn't claim the $10 million prize."
We, the public, will benefit greatly in the long run with the increased competition. The more companies doing this, the better.
And when the time comes, I'll be ready to take a flight.
Boycott everything - they're all trying to fuck you one way or another
Xcor is not competing for the $10 million prize...
"To make money has always been our goal," he said.
If they're in it for the money, wouldn't it make sense to compete for the X-Prize, while they're at it?
It seems the publicity of winning would help their business, not to mention 10 million bucks in the pocket ain't bad.
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Unless I miss my guess there is a heck of a lot more than $10 million for whoever wins this race. If the Bush space plan works, and it may, we could well see the commercialization of space in our lifetimes. And whoever has the best and cheapest commercial transport system at that point stands to make billions and billions.
It would seem the FAA has a legitimate interest in regulating whats flying in US airspace. If something represents a danger to public safety the FAA needs to be able to stop it from flying. It is true on the other hand that at some point (altitude) the FAA's jurisdiction must end, I would say that as long as it is being launched from the US they get a say... There are also probably some international treaties that would provide guidence.
I think the permits only apply to launching and landing. An object moving as fast as these craft carries significant kinetic energy as well as explosive fuels so a crash is a public risk. The FAA probably has some minimum safety requirements about construction and laucnch zone.
There's no way they're going to beat Scaled, and no permit is going to help that.
Both a rhetorical question, and genuine curiosity.
Oh I see, they want to make money, not win the prize... which is... money...
The X-Prize is a lot of money, but it's not likely to be enough to cover the costs of what it demands... not just one space flight, but two in one week's time. Not to mention, if you plan it all but get beat to the punch, there's no prize for coming in second.
All of the ventures shooting for the X-Prize have to have a motive to keep going beyond the X-Prize, win or lose, to be viable.
but doesn't the requirement for a permit to engage in a sub-orbital flight set a bad precedent as far as the politicalization of space goes.
As long as you don't plan to come back down, you can safely ignore the FAA.
Come back, though, and don't have the right permits? You'll wish you'd burned up on reentry.
Basically, I agree with you. The idea of a US government agency having control over attempts at flights outside the Earth's atmosphere just annoys me to no end. But as I said, if you plan to come back, you'd better make damned sure you've dotten your Is and crossed your Ts.
I'm surprised nobody knew that Burt Rutan designed the Long-EZ, which the EZ rocket is based off of. Rutan helped kick off the homebuilt aircraft revolution with that plane, and its derivatives have always been nothing but tributes to his excellence as an engineer. I don't think he much cares about this competition.