Andrew Nelson sounds exhausted after a long trip from the United Arab Emirates to Boston. But his enthusiasm comes through loud and clear on a scratchy cell phone call to the West Coast.
“It’s a great time to be in this business. It’s just incredible. I’m having a blast,” the XCOR COO says.
Optimism? From XCOR? Well, why not? Everything seems to be coming up roses these days.
Development of the Lynx space plane is coming along “great,” Nelson says. Ticket sales are surging. And, for perhaps the first time ever, funding is not holding back XCOR’s suborbital space dreams. But, amid all the positives, Nelson attaches a caveat to his estimation of a first flight as early as mid-2012: “anything can happen.”
Such is life for the small rocket company that is frequently overshadowed by its more famous rival, Virgin Galactic, whose space plane is being developed just down the flight line at the Mojave Air & Space Port. Very soon, it will be XCOR’s chance to shine in the California sun. In the meantime, caveats are mandatory safety equipment.
Nelson says XCOR needs three or four more days in a supersonic wind tunnel to finalize some minor tweaks in the Lynx design. The tests have been delayed due to a hydraulic leak in the tunnel that engineers are fixing. Once the design is finalized, they will be ready to go. In the meantime, a lot of work is being done in other areas of Lynx.
On the financial side, investors are coming in the door, meaning that funding is not a limiting factor, Nelson adds. Ticket sales for the $95,000 flights have surged to approximately 100. The company’s other projects are in excellent shape: collaboration with United Launch Alliance to develop a new upper stage engine is coming along great.
XCOR is hoping to fly the first Lynx test flight in mid- to late 2012. Nelson hates to make firm predictions because of all the uncertainties in this business. The company had hoped to fly by the end of this year, but that schedule slipped as XCOR raised more funds.
Nelson has just returned from Global Space and Satellite Forum in Abu Dhabi, where there was “lots” of interest in flying the Lynx. Another positive sign: Dubai seems to have recovered from the financial crisis. So, they have money to spend.
Nelson sees a lot of potential business in the region, where officials want to diversify their economies away from gas and oil, build up expertise in key technology areas, and develop highly-trained workforces.
He’s also excited about the educational possibilities. The United Arab Emirates has 30,000 eighth graders. If you divided those students into teams of five and had each group fly a microgravity experiment aboard the Lynx, the entire project could be done in 40-50 flights at a retail price of $5 million. It would be a great way to get students excited about science and technology.
Nelson says he has to go, so he signs off the call. He was undoubtedly headed off for some much deserved rest. He’ll need it. If XCOR’s good fortunate continues, it’s going to be a very busy year.
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