A reusable rocket plane designed by XCOR Aerospace to carry future travelers to space has succeeded in its first piloted flight test.
Retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Dick Rutan flew the privately funded EZ-Rocket at Mojave Airport on July 21.
"This achievement is, first, a big step in testing the rockets and second, actually, the application of the rocket to the airplane," XCOR spokesman Wayne Hammack told SPACE.com. "Clearly, we have some testing to do to get the airplane where it's fully operational."
The EZ-Rocket, a modified Long-EZ airplane powered by twin 400-pound thrust rocket engines, is designed to carry tourists to suborbital spaceflight at "reasonable cost," he said. The rocket plane is not an entrant in the X Prize competition. That competition has 20 entrants vying for $20 million to be awarded to the first private outfit that sends the equivalent of three people to space.
Rutan worked with XCOR for six months to develop the EZ-Rocket flight test program.
"The first runway test was a resounding success," Lt. Col. Rutan said in a prepared statement.
"After I turned on the rocket engine, the engine came smoothly to full thrust, and the aircraft rapidly accelerated to flying speed. I rotated and the aircraft lifted off and flew for a few hundred feet under rocket power. I then shut down, landed, and rolled to a stop. All the systems operated normally."
Among other achievements, Col. Rutan is known for having flown around the world without refueling in the Voyager aircraft, and has flown around the world in his own Long-EZ.
Test bed
The EZ-Rocket is a research and development test bed for XCOR.
"The EZ-Rocket project has given us experience in designing and building a complete rocket propulsion system and packaging it in a vehicle." said XCOR Chief Engineer Dan DeLong. "The next step is to fine-tune the vehicle and engine for routine operations."
XCOR president Jeff Greason said the EZ-Rocket will drive down operating costs of reusable rocket vehicles, which are the main business of the Mojave, California-based company.
A news conference to discuss the test is set for Saturday, July 28, at the 2001 AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The official roll-out of the EZ-Rocket will take place in Mojave, California this fall after the early phases of the flight test program have been completed.
Rocket specs
The EZ-Rocket is a modified Long-EZ homebuilt aircraft.
The aircraft is powered by twin 400-pound thrust regeneratively cooled rocket engines. The EZ-Rocket includes an external composite fuel tank and an insulated internal aluminum liquid oxygen tank.
The modifications were performed at XCOR Aerospace. Tests are performed at the Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center.
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