Re: XCOR engines

"Rüdiger Klaehn" <rudi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1130245327.718834.141000@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Just ask them.

> They are a commercial company, and you are a
> potential customer. So I am sure they will be more
> willing to provide you personally with specs such as
> ISP and T/W than to reply on the news group.
> Maybe they will fax you a NDA or something.

I do not see myself being a potential customer anytime soon. Such
performance information is intentionally absent from their website. This
seems sensible as it is so dependant on variable details. I expect their
policy here is as per their policy on revealing details of Xerus.

I was only wondering if someone could suggest whether their engines are
in the low, medium or high performance ranges with regard to T/W and
ISP.

> I really hope that the current boom in suborbital space
> flight will lead to more specialization. Why does every
> single rocket technology startup have to build their
> own engines? In the case of armadillo aerospace I
> can see why they do it: it is a lot of fun.

Big launch vehicles saw the development of big engines. There are
currently no good high performance small engines available, with the
possible exception of Xcor? As a consequence people unfortunately still
have to develop their own. As you say, hopefully this will soon change
with increased specialization.

> But in other cases I think it does not make any sense.
> Unfortunately "not invented here" is not only an issue
> at NASA centers.

Very true.

Pete.



.