Latest Rocket-powered aircraft Stories

A sub-scale solid rocket motor designed to mimic NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, booster design successfully was tested today by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The 20-second firing tested new insulation materials on the 24-inch-diameter, 109-inch-long motor. The motor is a scaled down, low-cost replica of the solid rocket motors that will boost SLS off the launch pad. Marshall is leading the design and development of the SLS on behalf of the...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala., March 14, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A sub-scale solid rocket motor designed to mimic NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, booster design successfully was tested today by engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The 20-second firing tested new insulation materials on the 24-inch-diameter, 109-inch-long motor. The motor is a scaled down, low-cost replica of the solid rocket motors that will boost SLS off the launch pad. (Logo:...

MOJAVE, Calif. and PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR Aerospace announced today that it recently closed a $5 million round of equity funding. The round, combined with cash on hand plus anticipated and existing contracts, should fund the company through production of its Lynx Mark I Suborbital vehicle. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120227/LA60426) The financing included participation of new and previous investors. Among them are Esther Dyson,...

MOJAVE, Calif., and PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) 2012 in Palo Alto, California, XCOR Aerospace announced that EMXYS of Spain, Texas A&M's Space Engineering Research Center, and the Planetary Science Institute have joined XCOR's payload processing sales channel for the Lynx suborbital vehicle. The new members of the XCOR team will provide services to the research, scientific, educational,...

MOJAVE, Calif., Jan. 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR Aerospace and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) announce the final week to register and become eligible to win a suborbital research flight on XCOR's Lynx I vehicle at the Next Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC-2012) in Palo Alto, CA on February 27-29. The deadline for early conference registration and for entering the drawing is the 10th of February at nsrc.swri.org. (Photo:...

MOJAVE, Calif. and BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a first of its kind prize for the reusable suborbital research community, XCOR Aerospace and the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) announced today that a research flight will be awarded to one lucky paid registrant at the NSRC-2012 Conference (nsrc.swri.org) to be held 27-29 February 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resort in Palo Alto, California. "This is a great day for the researcher, educator or...

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) and the United States Air Force successfully tested ATK's newly developed Large Class (92-inch diameter) Stage III solid rocket motor at the Air Force's Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) in Tennessee. The Stage III motor is designed to ignite at altitudes in excess of 85,000 feet. In order to accurately test the motor's performance the static fire was conducted at AEDC using a vacuum chamber specially designed to...

MOJAVE, Calif., and CURACAO, Sept. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Space Expedition Curacao (SXC) and XCOR Aerospace, Inc. jointly announced today the completion of a multi-million dollar transaction that secures the wet lease of production Lynx tail number two for operation on the Caribbean island of Curacao, pending export licensing action. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110812/LA51851) "Since we signed the initial Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October of 2010, XCOR and SXC...

PROMONTORY, Utah, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- ATK (NYSE: ATK) today conducted a third successful ground test of the next-generation solid rocket motor. The successful test, known as Development Motor (DM-3), is an important milestone in further validating the rocket's potential use in heavy lift and commercial launch vehicles. Initial test data indicate the motor performed as designed, producing approximately 3.6 million pounds of thrust, or 22 million horsepower, and burning for just...

CENTENNIAL, Colo., and MOJAVE, Calif., March 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- United Launch Alliance (ULA) and XCOR Aerospace announced today their successful hot-fire demonstrations of a lighter-weight, lower-cost approach to liquid-fueled rocket-engine vacuum nozzles. The new nozzle technology, which uses aluminum alloys and innovative manufacturing techniques, is projected to be less costly and save hundreds of pounds of mass compared to nozzles in use today in typical large upper-stage rocket...