Author Topic: XCOR and the Lynx rocket (Read 620921 times)

Robotbeat · « **Reply #500 on:** 08/20/2013 07:02 pm »

Quote from: Lars_J on 08/20/2013 06:54 pm

Quote from: Robotbeat on 08/20/2013 06:37 pm
They still will fly earlier than 2015 (according to XCOR), just not necessarily from Florida.

Are you sure? We have seen no flight test, and not even any runway roll tests with any test vehicle. (as far as I'm aware)

That's a valid criticism, but the article is talking about Florida flights, not flights in Mojave.

The Lynx's airframe is what's taking so long. But I sort of doubt it will take until 2015 for test flights. We'll see some flights by 2014, maybe even some tests at the tail end of this year.

jongoff · « **Reply #501 on:** 08/21/2013 08:37 pm »

Quote from: Robotbeat on 08/20/2013 07:02 pm

Quote from: Lars_J on 08/20/2013 06:54 pm
Quote from: Robotbeat on 08/20/2013 06:37 pm
They still will fly earlier than 2015 (according to XCOR), just not necessarily from Florida.

Are you sure? We have seen no flight test, and not even any runway roll tests with any test vehicle. (as far as I'm aware)
That's a valid criticism, but the article is talking about Florida flights, not flights in Mojave.

The Lynx's airframe is what's taking so long. But I sort of doubt it will take until 2015 for test flights. We'll see some flights by 2014, maybe even some tests at the tail end of this year.

I hope you're right. The rule of thumb at Scaled was that from when you had an airplane-looking shell to when you were actually ready to fly typically took over a year. I'm definitely an XCOR amazing people, but I've been burned enough times by my overoptimism about their flight-test schedule that I'm not going to make guesses again until I see something that looks more like the final vehicle coming together. It would be sweet if they were into flight testing before Space Access next year, but I'm no longer trying to hold my breath...it'll happen when they're ready.

~Jon

jongoff · « **Reply #502 on:** 09/04/2013 12:47 am »

http://www.xcor.com/blog/?p=301

Looks like XCOR is starting a series where they're going to try and do a blog post every day about Lynx, including pictures of its construction and testing.

Pretty sweet. I probably need to do something similar for Altius.

~Jon

Lars_J · « **Reply #503 on:** 09/04/2013 12:59 am »

Exciting!

go4mars · « **Reply #504 on:** 09/04/2013 01:01 am »

Quote from: jongoff on 09/04/2013 12:47 am

http://www.xcor.com/blog/?p=301

Looks like XCOR is starting a series where they're going to try and do a blog post every day about Lynx, including pictures of its construction and testing.

Pretty sweet. I probably need to do something similar for Altius.

~Jon

If you do, please link through twitter with your headline.

spectre9 · « **Reply #505 on:** 09/04/2013 02:37 pm »

Awesome! Really looking forward to it.

QuantumG · « **Reply #506 on:** 09/05/2013 10:03 pm »

dcporter · « **Reply #507 on:** 09/06/2013 03:27 am »

Quote from: QuantumG on 09/05/2013 10:03 pm

Wow.

Whoa.

Is that shape... useful?

Robotbeat · « **Reply #508 on:** 09/06/2013 03:40 am »

Quote from: dcporter on 09/06/2013 03:27 am

Quote from: QuantumG on 09/05/2013 10:03 pm
Wow.

Whoa.

Is that shape... useful?

Yes, of course. It's the result of careful wind tunnel and CFD testing efforts.

It's also qualitatively similar to the EZ Rocket plane XCOR has, built on the Long EZ platform.

Lars_J · « **Reply #509 on:** 09/06/2013 05:27 am »

It may have been tested using CFD, but it still looks like no other supersonic aircraft. The angled cockpit windows are strange, since the inferior cockpit pressure glass dome is rounded.

spectre9 · « **Reply #510 on:** 09/06/2013 10:30 am »

I think that's slightly different to concept art already out there.

The wings look to curve up more rather than just bend at right angles.

Star One · « **Reply #511 on:** 09/10/2013 03:50 pm »

Bob Geldof to be one of their passengers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24031979

Robert Thompson · « **Reply #512 on:** 09/17/2013 05:42 am »

http://www.space.com/22820-lynx-private-spaceship-jeff-greason.html

"We are very aware of the fact that not every pretty long-term promise comes true. XCOR is the only company in this arena that is run by engineers."

zaitcev · « **Reply #513 on:** 09/21/2013 02:50 pm »

The picture of the fuselage, unveiled on their blog a year and a half after its delivery, reminded me about one tiny observation. When the fuselage was delivered, it was called "flight-capable". It was on February 28, 2012. It's getting hard to find the original release, but it's there. However, very soon they corrected the record to "flight-weight" fuselage, as blogs captured their another presser about being "ready to integrate wings". That was as soon as in May. The conclusion I draw is that the fuselage was found to be unsuitable for actual flight and was demoted to a test article without actually mentioning it.
http://www.scoop.it/t/new-space-a-new-era-in-space-exploration/p/1325375294/xcor-lynx-fuselage-delivered (very bad site but can deliver 2/28/12 presser if you squeeze it)
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/xcor-lynx-fuselage-delivered-368903/ (quotes from release)
http://www.xcor.com/blog/fuselage101/ (the picture of the sad, lonely fuselage)
http://www.americaspace.com/?p=33402 (now "flight-weight")

Oli · « **Reply #514 on:** 09/21/2013 04:51 pm »

Quote

SPACE.com: What is the current status of the Lynx project?

JG: Man, I'd like to know when it's done.

Refreshing

He says having only room for one passenger is an advantage, since its more private. I'd say part of the experience of suborbital flight is to float around in the cabin.

simonbp · « **Reply #515 on:** 09/23/2013 09:27 pm »

If you want to float, go talk to ZeroG. They'll hook you up for much cheaper than a Lynx flight.

Suborbital is all about the view, which is precisely what Lynx's passenger seat is designed for.

jongoff · « **Reply #516 on:** 09/23/2013 09:58 pm »

[Moderators: I can't remember if there was a separate thread for the XCOR/ULA RL-10 replacement work, so move it to the appropriate thread if it doesn't belong here, but this was pretty neat news]

http://www.xcor.com/press/2013/13-09-23_XCOR_ULA_announce_hydrogen_engine_milestone.html

XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance Announce Important Milestone in Liquid Hydrogen Engine Program

XCOR hydrogen rocket piston pump
The XCOR Hydrogen piston pump

September 23, 2013, Mojave, California and Centennial, Colorado - XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance announced significant progress today in the XCOR/ULA liquid hydrogen (LH2) engine development program.

“We are happy to announce that we have successfully operated our liquid hydrogen pump at full design flow rate and pressure conditions,” said XCOR Chief Executive Officer Jeff Greason. “This milestone builds on our earlier success with liquid oxygen and kerosene pumps, which have powered many of our hotfires. Achieving this goal allows us to proceed with integrated testing of our liquid hydrogen demonstrator engine, fed by our liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen piston pumps. The ultimate goal is a far more cost-effective upper-stage engine for ULA and their customers.”

Conceived as a lower-cost, risk-managed program, the XCOR LH2 engine program is intended to produce a flight-ready cryogenic upper-stage engine in the 25,000 lbf thrust class with growth potential up to 50,000 lbf thrust or more. When complete, it should cost significantly less to produce and be easier to operate than competing rocket engine technologies.

However, it isn’t just about thrust class. "Factors such as the extreme low temperature and small molecule size of liquid hydrogen present new technical challenges compared to liquid oxygen or kerosene,” said Greason. "Demonstrating our ability to safely pump this fluid at high flow rates and pressures, with relatively low mass is a significant engineering milestone that will deliver yet another line of innovation and business to XCOR."

“XCOR’s and ULA’s investment in this program should result in much lower cost and more capable commercial and government launch capabilities,” said XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson. “By drawing from several hundred years of human experience in the development of piston machinery, XCOR seeks to dramatically increase reliability, reusability and long term manufacturability of rocket propellant pumps. The decrease in manufacturing and maintenance costs of XCOR’s rocket propellant pumps is at least an order of magnitude in volume production when compared to traditional rocket turbo machinery.”

With the completion of the flow rate and pressure tests, Nelson added, “We are proud to say that our collaboration with ULA has borne significant results. This is a new application of time-tested principles that tangibly demonstrates we can produce an upper-stage cryogenic engine with similar or better performance than today’s state of the art, with long life, reusability and reliability at significantly less cost. And it is only taking place at XCOR.”

“Today’s milestone is further validation of the effort that we began with XCOR several years ago, leveraging more than a century of automotive industry insights to develop a truly new concept in engine design,” noted George Sowers, ULA's Vice President of Human Launch Services. “These technology demonstrations have paved the way for ULA’s support of the liquid hydrogen engine program. We are beginning to see substantial results from ULA’s continued investment of time and resources in the ULA/XCOR hydrogen engine program and look forward to the next phase of development in this groundbreaking endeavor.”

# # #

About XCOR Aerospace: XCOR Aerospace is based in Mojave, California. It is currently starting the process to create a new Research and Development Center in Midland, Texas and an operational and manufacturing site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. XCOR builds safe, reliable and reusable rocket-powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and rocket piston pumps. XCOR works with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, while also building Lynx. Lynx is a piloted, two-seat, fully reusable liquid rocket-powered vehicle that takes-off and lands horizontally. The Lynx family of vehicles serves three primary missions depending on their specific type including: research & scientific missions, private spaceflight, and micro satellite launch (only on the Lynx Mark III). Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-mission (research / scientific or private spaceflight) commercial vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day. Lynx vehicles are available to customers in the free world on a wet lease basis to start their own manned space flight program. (www.xcor.com).

United Launch Alliance: ULA is a 50-50 joint venture owned by Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company, and is the nation’s rocket company, bringing together two of the launch industry’s most experienced and successful teams – Atlas and Delta. ULA provides reliable, cost-efficient space launch services for the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office and other commercial organizations. ULA program management, engineering, test, and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. For more information on ULA, visit the ULA Web site at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch.

yg1968 · « **Reply #517 on:** 09/24/2013 03:31 am »

Good stuff! Very colourful pump!

go4mars · « **Reply #518 on:** 09/24/2013 03:45 am »

Is anyone able to add some arrows or annotations to that photo?

QuantumG · « **Reply #519 on:** 09/24/2013 04:33 am »

As far as press releases go, yah?

I'm sure when ULA announces they're building, or better yet, flying an XCOR pump we'll all be more.. pumped.