XCOR Lynx Mark I Taking Shape In Mojave

Four years after the rocket-powered Lynx project was unveiled at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the presence here of a full-scale vehicle mockup at the Spacecraft Technology Expo reveals two fundamental truths about the “new space” market. Firstly, propelling a privately developed spacecraft to suborbit is extremely difficult. When it first announced the project in March 2008, XCOR Aerospace hoped to be flying within two years, yet is only now assembling the first Mark I vehicle at its Mojave, Calif., facility. The company's long journey to suborbit is partly reflected in the many detailed design differences between the mockup and the artist's concept of 2008 ...