Lynx spacecraft
to give big boost
to space tourism
By Sherry Valare
Like a scene out of a futuristic movie, imagine
an airplane that could take off from a runway, fly
sub-orbital, and return to the ground with a runway
landing. The concept seemed pretty far-fetched not
even ten years ago. Now, a handful of commercial
spaceflight companies are breathing life into what
was once only sentiment. The Reuseable Launch
Vehicle (RLV) industry is heating up fast. With several
different companies having similar spacecraft in
various stages of production or testing, the race is on,
and XCOR Aerospace is close to the finish line.
XCOR has developed an RLV they call “Lynx”. It is
powered by a fully reusable rocket propulsion system
that gives it the unique capability of taking off and
landing horizontally, while most other companies are
using rocket rides and air-launch methods to take to
the skies. Some of the advantages the Lynx spacecraft
boasts are a low operating cost and the capability of
fulfilling four flights per day with two-hour turnarounds
in between, without any compromise to the safety of
the vehicle. Lynx will be able to operate out of any
spaceport with a 7,900 foot runway, though the first
flights will occur at the Mojave Air and Spaceport in
California. Lynx will take paying customers for rides as
tourists, and transport research payloads, as well.
A flight in the Lynx will last about thirty minutes.
Fueled by a burning mix of liquid oxygen (LOX) and
kerosene, 2,900 pounds of thrust will be created by
each of the four XR-5K18 rocket engines residing in the
back of the fuselage. This will lift the vehicle through
takeoff and ascent, where it will reach a maximum
airspeed of Mach 2.9 until about 3 minutes into
flight. At this point, Lynx will be around 190,000 feet
in the air, where it will turn off its engines and coast
upwards, until it reaches apogee at 328,000 feet. It
will experience weightlessness for about 4.6 minutes,
followed by re-entry, with its passengers experiencing
gravity four times greater than normal. The final leg of
the trip is a spiral glide back to the runway where Lynx
will safely touch down and roll to a stop.
Jeff Greason, President of XCOR Aerospace,
explains, “It takes about a minute after engine light to
go supersonic. At about 70 to 80,000 feet, the sky will
start to turn dark, and by 100,000 feet, it’s gone black.
You will get an opportunity to maneuver, using the
reaction control systems – GW&