Sat, Apr 24, 2004
XCOR Aerospace Receives Launch License
Friday, at the Space
Access conference in Phoenix, Arizona, XCOR Aerospace announced it
has received a Reusable Launch Vehicle mission license from the
FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). The license,
which is the first for a reusable launch vehicle (RLV) that is
launched and recovered from the ground, will be used to test RLV
technologies prior to suborbital passenger travel.
The launch license is for a technology test vehicle; the license
does not yet cover passenger operations though it does allow for
revenue payload flights after initial tests are completed. Testing
will be done at the Mojave Airport in Mojave, California, which is
expected to become the first inland launch facility licensed for
commercial launches. Mojave Airport is known for its safe, smooth
coordination of general aviation activity and private aerospace
development.
According to XCOR Government Liaison Randall Clague, "This
license covers the full flight test program conducted in a
designated test area. A significant feature of the license is that
it allows the pilot to do an incremental series of flight tests --
without preplanning each trajectory."
"This license means we only have to seek approval for
significant changes that materially affect the safety of the
uninvolved public," XCOR CEO Jeff Greason added. "Our goal is for
RLV developers to conduct test flights with the flexibility and
ease of development normally associated with experimental aircraft.
The terms of this license represent significant progress towards
this goal. It is helpful that RLV companies can obtain their launch
licenses during vehicle design, prior to committing capital to
build a vehicle."
XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation located in Mojave,
California. The company is in the business of developing and
producing safe, reliable and reusable rocket engines and rocket
powered vehicles.
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