At this point much of the value of the engines is still in the heads of those who design, build, and test them.
Quote from: CameronD on 04/07/2017 12:52 amQuote from: Gliderflyer on 04/05/2017 08:03 pmULA has the 5H25 engine and hydrogen pump on display at their Space Symposium booth:All that hard work developing the engine and piston pump and they end up a permanent part of a ULA static display?!?? That can't be a good thing for the Lynx program.. The Lynx didn't use Hydrogen - it had Kerosene and LOX pumps IIRC.EDIT:You know what, that was bad form. The Lynx DOESN'T use Hydrogen.
Quote from: Gliderflyer on 04/05/2017 08:03 pmULA has the 5H25 engine and hydrogen pump on display at their Space Symposium booth:All that hard work developing the engine and piston pump and they end up a permanent part of a ULA static display?!?? That can't be a good thing for the Lynx program..
ULA has the 5H25 engine and hydrogen pump on display at their Space Symposium booth:
Drunken conversations at Space Access last year told me all I needed to know. It was a nice attempt to give the squeaky wheel a chance at the grease, but in the end no amount of engineering genius can make a business case close. I hope the team goes on to better tended pastures.
They do charged numerous customers for lynx tickets, each ticket worth of a house, and delivered nothing.
Citation needed. The most I ever heard was everyone who wanted to ride was added as an investor, and there wasn't all that many of them either, or actually worked for the company.
The company, currently based in Mojave, California, but in the process of moving to Midland, Texas, said that the price of tickets for flights on its Lynx vehicle will increase from $100,000 to $150,000 effective Jan. 1, 2016.“With the Lynx Mark I spacecraft closer to completion and first flight, the price will be raised to align more closely with the current market value of a commercial spaceflight,” said XCOR Space Expeditions, the Amsterdam-based subsidiary of XCOR Aerospace that serves as the sales office for Lynx tickets.[...]The company said it has sold more than 300 tickets, and Gibson believes the price increase would not diminish demand. “There is a market established for these tickets,” he said.
XCOR is dead. All that remains is bankruptcy and finding someone to buy the sad remains.
... and where does it say that XCOR collected the money for these tickets? I don't even think they collected deposits. I know people who were eager to give money to XCOR and couldn't because of stupid US investment rules and they complained that they weren't getting deposits for tickets. I've not seen anything that says they were taking money for tickets, and it doesn't fit with what I know about the company. Happy to be corrected. Maybe this is simply a structuring issue... the "Amsterdam-based subsidiary" is on the hook for any money they've collected.
The founder of manufacturing and distribution company NHP Electrical Products has paid $100,000 for the 30-minute ride.
I don't know what's hard to understand about this... Space Expedition Curacao and XCOR Space Expeditions are not the company we're talking about. I could see the confusion about the latter, as they at least have a related name, but how could you possibly mistake the former for XCOR? If you've handed money over to either of these companies you've probably been on the phone to them for quite some time now asking for it back. I really do wish you the best of luck, but I've never heard that XCOR received a dime of it. That's kinda the point of having separate companies.
I'm not sure why you are so argumentative about this. You asked for supporting evidence, and he gave some.
Do you have close connections to the XCOR (now ex-XCOR) team that shows that these two entities were that separate from each other?
Quote from: Lars-J on 07/07/2017 12:14 amI'm not sure why you are so argumentative about this. You asked for supporting evidence, and he gave some.Excuse me, I asked for evidence that XCOR was taking money for flights that are now not going to happen. No-one has yet to provide any evidence for that.
Quote from: Lars-JDo you have close connections to the XCOR (now ex-XCOR) team that shows that these two entities were that separate from each other?Uhhhh... duh. They're different entities in different countries. As for my "connections", that's called actually talking to the people who worked there, the people who had invested in the company and others who wanted to do so. Something any of you could do if you wanted to.
Xcor will not sell tickets directly, but will license sale of the 25-minute flights to existing space-adventure tourism companies, Greason says. The company has not yet revealed the price tag for flights aboard Lynx...XCOR, though, doesn’t plan to operate the Lynx itself commercially, instead signing agreements with operators who would package the Lynx flights with training and other activities to sell to individual customers. Greason said that XCOR was in “quite advanced discussions” with one operator and has talked with several others
A year later, in 2006, XCOR Aerospace contacted Wimmer as well and offered him a chance to be the first astronaut to fly on their Lynx spacecraft, once it's ready to take to the sky. This ticket cost him $95,000.
Well, then why didn't you say so in the first place, instead of phrasing it like a speculation? If they had told you point blank that this never happened, then that surely paints a different picture. So... is that what you were told, or is it an assumption?
The XCOR folks - the higher ups - were surely aware of these deposits. Yet they were OK with not seeing any funds from their partner, despite the financial straits of the company?
It seems strange. But if that's what you've heard, then that's what we have to accept.
XCOR's ticket sales were supposed to go through operators. The 'operators' certainly took some deposits at some point, but QuoteXcor will not sell tickets directly, but will license sale of the 25-minute flights to existing space-adventure tourism companies, Greason says. The company has not yet revealed the price tag for flights aboard Lynx...https://www.space.com/23757-space-tourist-training-per-wimmer.htmlQuoteA year later, in 2006, XCOR Aerospace contacted Wimmer as well and offered him a chance to be the first astronaut to fly on their Lynx spacecraft, once it's ready to take to the sky. This ticket cost him $95,000.
Xcor will not sell tickets directly, but will license sale of the 25-minute flights to existing space-adventure tourism companies, Greason says. The company has not yet revealed the price tag for flights aboard Lynx.
That Space.com article quote certainly paints a picture of XCOR being more directly involved in ticket sales, and directly reaching out to wealthy individuals. So either Greason changed his mind, or the article is wrong in this aspect.
XCOR's ticket sales were supposed to go through operators. The 'operators' certainly took some deposits at some point, but QuoteXcor will not sell tickets directly, but will license sale of the 25-minute flights to existing space-adventure tourism companies, Greason says. The company has not yet revealed the price tag for flights aboard Lynx...XCOR, though, doesn’t plan to operate the Lynx itself commercially, instead signing agreements with operators who would package the Lynx flights with training and other activities to sell to individual customers. Greason said that XCOR was in “quite advanced discussions” with one operator and has talked with several othershttp://www.thespacereview.com/article/1095/1https://phys.org/news/2008-12-rocketship-teams-xcor-aerospace.htmlhttps://www.space.com/23757-space-tourist-training-per-wimmer.htmlQuoteA year later, in 2006, XCOR Aerospace contacted Wimmer as well and offered him a chance to be the first astronaut to fly on their Lynx spacecraft, once it's ready to take to the sky. This ticket cost him $95,000.
What are the chances XCOR does a fold and twist, re-emerging as a new/same company like Armadillo Aerospace did?There's a number of these small space companies, some still dreaming and other defunct. Rather than hope for a large player or investor to buy and sit on the IP (which is a viable business plan to some), isn't there a chance these small companies could consolidate into a knowledgeble and viable one?For example; EXOS + XCOR + Firefly + maybe Masten = success or further failure?
