Xerus (spaceplane)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Xerus (pronunciation: zEr'us), is a suborbital spaceplane under development by XCOR Aerospace. It should be capable of transporting one pilot and one passenger as well as some science experiments and it should even be capable of carrying an upper stage which launches in suborbit and therefore would be able to carry satellites into LEO.

Xerus would depart the runway under rocket power and glide back for a runway landing, even retaining some fuel for approach and touchdown maneuvers. In comparison to other orbital gliders like the Space Shuttle or SpaceShipOne, this would make it much more controllable during the landing phase. Its engine, dubbed XR-4K5, is a restartable liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine developed by XCOR Aerospace itself.

On April 11, 2007, XCOR announced that it has been awarded a nearly $100,000 research contract and that, after eight years in the space business, the hardware and funding are finally coming together to enable the development of the Xerus spaceplane.