FYI,

"Rocketplane Global Overhauls Suborbital Craft"
Space.com
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/071026-rocketplane-
overhaul.html

: Rocketplane Global, Inc. (RGI) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma announced
: today a facelift for its first XP Spaceplane – transforming it into
: a more powerful craft that provides a roomier ride for suborbital
: patrons.

: Since 2004, Rocketplane has been building their XP Spaceplane, a
: four-seat, fighter-sized vehicle powered by two jet engines and a
: rocket engine.

: But things have changed over the last year and a half, said Dave
: Faulkner, Program Manager of Rocketplane Global. "We've learned
: quite a bit over that time and realized that we needed to make some
: changes," he said.

: The revised XP Spaceplane design revealed today here at the site of
: this year's X Prize Cup festivities is a five-passenger,
: single-pilot craft.

: Shipshape features

: Faulkner told SPACE.com that both computer modeling and wind tunnel
: testing have led the firm's design team to reshape their suborbital
: spaceship.

: A key change is that company engineers are going away from a
: souped-up Learjet concept. "We were changing 95 percent of the
: Learjet to make it a rocket plane. So it was no longer a Learjet
: ... it just so happened that we were using a few Learjet parts,"
: Faulkner said.

: The vehicle now features a new fuselage design, although, like its
: predecessor, the body of the spaceplane will be aluminum and
: utilize titanium leading edges. On the craft's nose, a set of fixed
: canards have been added for control purposes.

: Another alteration can be seen at the spaceplane's tail section – a
: T-tail instead of a V-tail is to be used, shaving off some weight
: while realizing added redundancy and extra control.

: A beefier landing gear system has also been scoped out, to be
: provided by Loud Engineering & Manufacturing, a CIRCOR Aerospace
: company located in Ontario, California.

: One major change is use of afterburning J85 engines, with the
: overall thrust to weight for the spaceplane redesign going up
: significantly – about 50 percent more thrust, he added.

: Rocketplane Global has already put their money down – a still
: hush-hush amount of cash – and is about to take receipt of 11 of
: those engines from Magellan Aerospace, a Canadian company.

: Flight plan

: Here's the flight plan for suborbital customers: The Rocketplane XP
: would take off from the runway at the Oklahoma Spaceport, scooting
: into the air just like a conventional business jet. The craft jets
: itself into climb mode, flying to a little over 40,000 feet. At
: this point, the spaceship's pilot ignites the craft's powerful
: rocket engine, pulling up into a nearly vertical climb for soaring
: into space.

: As the vehicle arcs over, all onboard will experience three to four
: minutes of weightlessness – along with an incredible view that only
: a small, select group of people have ever seen.

: Within minutes, the descent begins. Under the load of several Gs
: pushing passengers down into their seat, they are on a unique space
: roller coaster ride. The XP's specially designed thermal protection
: system transfers away the heat of re-entry, permitting safe, slow
: travel toward terra firma.

: As the Rocketplane XP slows and enters the lower atmosphere, the
: pilot restarts the jet engines and begins the final leg of the
: flight back to the spaceport and a conventional runway landing.

: For the inside look of the passenger cabin, Rocketplane Global is
: engaging the talents of Frank Nuovo, a visionary, world-class
: designer. He is a visionary force behind Vertu, the luxury
: communications company, and spearheaded Nokia's styling and global
: industrial design innovations.

: Fee-paying flyers will be treated to personal video screens, given
: the ability to pick views from different cameras on the spaceship.
: While passengers will be provided a personal DVD of their flight,
: don't be shy about stuffing your own camera in your flight suit for
: taking those keepsake images of your own.

: Investment dollars

: Rocketplane Global is deep in discussion with several investment
: groups, Faulkner said, "and they are getting serious ... we're
: progressing very well on that part."

: What amount of investment dollars is involved? Faulkner remained
: tight-lipped, noting that this information is competition
: sensitive.

: "But we need to bring in the final round of investment to take the
: craft to flight. So that's what we're busy doing," Faulkner said.
: "I believe that we bring in the investment soon ... we will be in
: flight test and have revenue operations in 2010."

: Initially, the company would start out with two vehicles,
: forecasting a fleet of five by 2012.

: "We're going to fly each vehicle about a little over once a week.
: If there are no issues with the vehicle, we're going to be able to
: turn it around in 24-hours," Faulkner explained. "That's the design
: goal right now ... and I think that's very doable. We want to be a
: service provider for space transportation."

: Recycling the spaceplane to carry the next set of passengers won't
: require a standing army of thousands, said Chuck Lauer, Rocketplane
: Global's Vice President of Business Development.

: How much will a flight on the Rocketplane XP slap your wallet or
: cause you to dig deep into your purse? At present, the standard
: rate after the first 50 Founder Flights is $200,000 per seat. That
: up front, right seat next to the pilot, is at a premium ticket
: price of $250,000 – given the wrap-around windows to gaze through,
: Lauer said.

: Degree of difficulty

: To get things rolling, quite literally, the current forecast is for
: a flight test program of 50 flights. "We'll have the vehicle
: instrumented to the hilt ... making sure that we're not exceeding
: any limits before going into operation," Faulkner added.

: Asked about degree of difficulty in fashioning the suborbital
: vehicle, Faulkner responded: "I would say it is medium difficulty.
: It is certainly not easy, but I wouldn't call it hard either.
: That's because we're not trying to develop new technology. That's
: one of the philosophies of our company ... to use existing
: technology and learn from those people that have done it before,
: rather than trying to reinvent the wheel."

: Working on the project are engineers that have gone through the
: hard knocks of trial and error, Faulkner added. The team includes
: experts tasked to develop the space shuttle main engine, as well as
: a rocket designer involved in blasting off Apollo astronauts from
: the Moon's surface once their moonwalking missions were completed.

: To date, a little over 200,000 engineering hours have been spent on
: the new Rocketplane XP that debuted today, Faulkner said. The
: company, he continued, is in negotiation with a major airframe
: manufacturer, but no details as yet.

: Going global

: Lauer said the intent of Rocketplane Global is just that – pushing
: a vision that such vehicles could constitute a distributed fleet
: flying from multiple locations. "Having a site in Asia, Europe ...
: being able to offer people views of their particular part of the
: world is part of servicing the customer," he told SPACE.com.

: Use of the vehicle to support other types of activity has also been
: detailed as part of the business strategy, Lauer said.

: "We're not basing our business plan on capturing the whole market,"
: Faulkner noted. "I think there's enough room, at least from what
: we've seen, to have a few players in the market. But I guess we'll
: see what happens when we get there," he observed.

: Faulkner said that the vehicle, with the changes that have been
: made, "just looks right and it's also relatable to the public out
: there."

: "It is like an airplane that happens to just pop up into space
: occasionally," Faulkner pointed out. "And it just looks good."

: "Looks good, flies good. That still applies, even in space," Lauer
: concluded.

: For more information on Rocketplane Global, go to:
: http://www.rocketplaneglobal.com

Mark Reiff