XCOR Xerus Spaceplane: Passenger Animation

Single-stage suborbital vehicle Xerus in its passenger-carrying configuration. A cluster of main engines will propel the vehicle from the runway to about 65 km altitude, after which it coasts to 100 km during a typical sounding rocket flight. Initial flight testing will retain a propellant reserve so that the pilot can restart the engines to reach the airport, or perform a go-around if he chooses. XCOR plans a flight test program of at least 20 flights, each incrementally expanding the operational envelope. Suborbital Xerus design is targeted toward three markets: suborbital payloads, passengers and microsatellite delivery.

Credits: XCOR Aerospace, Inc.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• XCOR
• Xerus
• spaceplane
• spacecraft
• rocketplane
• suborbital
• space tourism
• personal spaceflight
• Space
• aerospace
• astronautics
• human spaceflight
• airplanes