 Products OverviewXCOR develops rocket-propelled vehicles, rocket propulsion systems, and propulsion components to customer order. We have developed technologies in a number of subsystems that further the goal of operationally effective, reliable, low maintenance rocket propulsion systems. These systems are designed to maximize safety and minimize cost. Since our rocket vehicles use our own rocket engines and systems, we have unique insight into the system-level tradeoffs needed for operationally responsive rocket propulsion. We have developed the kind of rocket propulsion that real systems can use. We design, manufacture and test components and complete systems from end-to-end. Whether it is a complete system, or a specific sub-system or part, XCOR is able to work with the customer to deliver practical solutions within a budget constraint to suit our customers' needs. Specific sub-systems currently under development and manufacture at XCOR are:
Electrical IgnitersIn November of 1999, we began preliminary design of our proprietary igniter. By December it was fabricated, installed and running on our test stand. We now use a version of that igniter on all our engines, and to date we have designed, tested, and implemented four variations of the original igniter. Reliable and safe ignition is perhaps the most challenging aspect of rocket engine design, and we have accomplished this feat. Our igniters have proven their reliability in over 8,000 successful test firings. We recently tested the igniter of our new 1,500 lbf LOX/kerosene engine 1,000 times in succession at 15 second intervals. Plus, we have used several propellant combinations, such as nitrous oxide/propane and oxygen/alcohol, with equal success. XCOR Rocket Engines - Overview and HistoryOur team’s experience is current, and since inception we have become a leader in the development of dependable, low-cost rocket engines. We have developed a series of proprietary engines, and have built, tested, and flown the EZ-Rocket twenty-six times. To date, we have continued the technological development of rocket engines, building and enhancing six designs from 15 lb thrust up to 7,500 lbf. XCOR’s engines burn a variety of non-toxic, safe fuels, including propane, ethane, methane (or LNG), alcohol, and kerosene using oxidizers such as liquid oxygen and nitrous oxide. In March of 2000, XCOR began testing a small integrated rocket engine, the XR-2P1, or what we call our Tea Cart because of its size and portability. While this engine incorporated all the elements of larger engines, its small size allowed us to test design improvements quickly and cheaply. As of June, 2006, we have completed nearly 1,500 successful test firings of this engine, using nitrous oxide oxidizer and ethane fuel.
The Tea Cart engine was publicly demonstrated at the Space Access Society annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona in late April of 2000. With the approval of the local fire marshal and the Holiday Inn's management - and to the delight of the conference's attendees - the engine was fired several times in the hotel's conference room. The demonstration was an illustration of our company's philosophy of safety, reliability, reusability, maintainability and relative ease of operation. XCOR subjected the engine to a wide range of operating environments before we decided it was ready for public demonstration. We worked closely with California's Kern County fire marshals and the Scottsdale, Arizona, fire marshals to insure that everything we did met their fire codes. Since then we have demonstrated the Tea Cart at schools, inside several hotels in California (and again in Arizona in 2001), at the Countdown to the X-Prize Cup right in front of scores of spectators, and at numerous other public venues. This engine resides in our hangar and is always available for demonstrations. Drawing on information learned during the Tea Cart runs, we began work on the next iteration of our small test engines. In June, 2000, we successfully concluded a series of tests of our proprietary oxygen/alcohol igniter for our next generation engine, a 160 lb thruster operating on liquid oxygen and isopropanol that first ran in early October, 2000. In July, 2000, we began construction of a big test bed for our larger engines, which we named the 5K Stand. You can see this test stand in many of our photos. After successful tests on the 160 lb LOX/alcohol engine, in November, 2000, we started to design and build the 400 lb thrust LOX/alcohol engine, the XR-4A3, that we would eventually install on the EZ-Rocket.
The four engines and igniters used during the EZ-Rocket flight test program have achieved our goal of being reliable, reusable, and restartable in-flight, ushering in a new era of rocket engine technology. These engines have had a total of nearly 700 runs lasting over more than 165 minutes. With these engines in place, the EZ-Rocket wowed the crowds at the EAA AirVenture, the Countdown to the X-Prize Cup, and closer to home at the Mojave Spaceport. Concurrently with the design and test of the 400 lb thrust motor, we were awarded a small government contract to design, build, and test a 50 lb thrust rocket engine (XR-3B4) that ran on nitrous oxide and alcohol, non-toxic storable propellants for satellite station keeping. In 2003 we completed development of our third generation igniter and tested an 1,800 lb thrust LOX/kerosene engine, the same class of engine that will power our Lynx suborbital vehicle.
More recent engine developments have kept us very busy. We have successfully fired the XR-3M9, which we also call the LNG-1, forty-three times for a total of 101 seconds. This engine is a 50 lb thrust LOX/methane dual regeneratively cooled engine with a specially designed injector. Creating and testing the 3M9 gave us operational familiarity with methane in combination with LOX, since LOX/methane rocket engines show great potential to provide the higher performance required for manned moon missions. A contract with the Air Force enabled us to test the 3M9 for a relatively high specific impulse with safe, environmentally friendly propellants, and reliable, responsive operations. Future generations of the 3M9 engine are intended for use as Reaction Control Systems (RCS) and satellite maneuvering systems. Another engine that we have devloped in parallel is the XR-4K14, or Rocket Racer engine, which is a 1,500 lb thrust regeneratively cooled LOX and pump-fed kerosene system that is currently used as the Rocket Racer aircraft's main engine. The engine has flown on the Rocket Racer with our rocket propellant piston pump, seen below.
In 2007, jointly with Alliant Tech Systems (ATK) Tactical, Propulsion and Controls Division, GASL Operations, we completed testing on the initial workhorse version of a 7,500 lbf LOX/methane engine (pictured at right) for for NASA’s Advanced Development LOX/Methane Engine Program. We have recently developed and tested the XR-3E17 50 lb-thrust RCS engine, which is a direct descendant of the XR-2P1 'Tea Cart' engine. For more information about our engines, select engine links from the above copy or in our products drop down menu. Piston PumpsFor the past five years, XCOR has been developing a low-cost and easy to manufacture fuel pump for rocket propellant use. One benefit of a piston-style design is that the pump is capable of pumping more fuel at a higher operational speed. Using this innovative pump design, drive gas to operate the pumps could be delivered by any of the three classical methods: staged combustion, gas generator, or expander. However, we chose a fourth, which is a proprietary thermodynamic cycle that is most similar to the expander. XCOR has patented this cycle, which has the advantage of not lowering the engine specific impulse as a gas generator would.
Availability of pump-fed engines in the one thousand to ten thousand pound thrust range will reveal new applications. This is the size range typically used by solid rocket motors for satellite orbital insertion. If an engine is also capable of multiple restarts, the insertion stage could also do the job of orbital maneuvering. Thus, a separate orbital maneuvering stage could be eliminated. Piston pumps will offer increased performance for hybrid rocket motors as well. The oxidizer, whether liquid oxygen, nitrous oxide, or other, can be stored in lightweight propellant tanks for stage performance gains. In addition to reducing the weight of hybrid propulsion, this technology will also allow innovative packaging of hybrid engines in volume-constrained applications such as air-launched boosters because the tanks need not be configured for high pressure storage. Another advantage of positive displacement pumps compared with turbomachinery, is the ability to start and stop rapidly. This “on-demand” operation is applicable to both free-piston and crankshaft configurations. Examples of this application include divert thrusters for missile defense vehicles and attitude control thrusters. Visit our piston pumps page for more information. Flight Vehicles
The EZ-Rocket is a manned technology demonstrator for XCOR's future vehicles. It has flown 26 times under rocket power using two of our XR-4A3 engines in both up-and-away and cross-country, setting one official record and several unofficial ones for rocket powered airplanes. It has also performed at two major airshows (EAA Airventure and the X-Prize Cup) in front of large public audiences with full approval of the FAA. The EZ-Rocket and her engines were developed from paper to flight in 9 months. For more information please visit our EZ-Rocket page.
While the EZ-Rocket is an excellent test bed for rocket engines and enables us to more fully understand routine rocket-powered flight and operations, our goal is profitable transportation to Earth orbit. We intend, however, to move in carefully worked out phases, with the next step being a suborbital vehicle. Preliminary design has already begun and is proceeding on our next vehicle, which we have named Lynx. Low operational cost is at the top of our list of priorities for the vehicle, and it will be powered by XCOR's rocket engines and propulsion system. These elements have already demonstrated long life and low operations cost in our EZ-Rocket. The Lynx is currently under development at our Mojave facility. For more information, please visit the Lynx press-release page.
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