biology

XCOR Lynx

XCOR Lynx is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand XCOR Lynx rather than just read about it. In short: The XCOR Lynx was a proposed suborbital horizontal-takeoff, horizontal-landing (HTHL), rocket-powered spaceplane that was under development by the California-based company XCOR Aerospace to compete in the emerging suborbital spaceflight market. The Lynx was intended to carry one pilot, a ticketed passenger, and/or a payload above 100 kilometres (62 mi) altitude.

Key takeaways

XCOR Lynx belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect XCOR Lynx to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of XCOR Lynx from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The XCOR Lynx was a proposed suborbital horizontal-takeoff, horizontal-landing (HTHL), rocket-powered spaceplane that was under development by the California-based company XCOR Aerospace to compete in the emerging suborbital spaceflight market. The Lynx was intended to carry one pilot, a ticketed passenger, and/or a payload above 100 kilometres (62 mi) altitude. The concept has been under development since 2003 when a two-person suborbital spaceplane was announced under the name Xerus. In January 2016, XCOR changed plans for the first flight of the Lynx spaceplane. It was initially planned for the second quarter of 2016 from the Midland spaceport in Texas, but, in early 2016, it was pushed to an "undisclosed and tentative" date at the Mojave spaceport. In May 2016, XCOR announced development of the Lynx had been halted with layoffs of approximately one-third of the staff; the company intended to concentrate on development of their liquid hydrogen rocket under contract with United Launch Alliance, instead. Following the bankruptcy of XCOR Aerospace in 2017, the assets of the company were sold to the nonprofit organization Build A Plane, which will focus on education rather than suborbital flight.

History

Xerus In 2003, XCOR proposed the Xerus (pronunciation: zEr'us) suborbital spaceplane concept. It was to be capable of transporting one pilot and one passenger as well as some science experiments. It would even be capable of carrying an upper stage which would launch near apogee and, therefore, would potentially be able to carry satellites into low Earth orbit. As late as 2007, XCOR continued to refer to their future two-person spaceplane concept as Xerus.

Lynx The Lynx spaceplane was initially announced in March 2008, with plans for an operational vehicle within two years. In December 2008, a ticket price of US$95,000 (equivalent to US$142,060 in 2025) per seat was announced, with flights intended to commence in 2010. The build of the Lynx Mark I flight article did not commence until mid-2013 and XCOR claimed that the first flight would take place in 2015. In July 2015, ticket prices increased by 50% to US$150,000 (equivalent to US$203,741 in 2025). In November 2015, three co-founders left their existing positions with the company to start Agile Aero. Dan DeLong (Chief Engineer) and Aleta Jackson left the company entirely, while Jeff Greason, the former CEO, remained on the Board of Directors until he resigned in March 2016. Greason cited problems with the Lynx vehicle body, although the engine had been a success. As of mid-2016, development was suspended in favor of a ULA-contracted hydrolox engine, the 8H21. Passengers who had hoped to make flights in the Lynx included the winners from the Axe Apollo Space Academy contest and Justin Dowd of Worcester, Massachusetts, the winner of another contest called the Race for Space. Metro International's Race for Space newspaper contest. By July 2015, the passenger ticket was projected to cost US$150,000. As of December 2015, Kayak.com was reportedly selling tickets for flights on the XCOR Lynx starting in 2016. In May 2016, the company halted development of the Lynx spaceplane and pivoted company focus toward development of its LOX/LH2 engine technology, particularly on a funded project for United Launch Alliance. The company laid off more than 20 people of the 50–60 persons on board before May.

Description The Lynx was intended to have four liquid rocket engines at the rear of the fuselage burning a mixture of LOX-Kerosene, each engine producing 2,900 pounds-force (13,000 N) of thrust.

Mark I Prototype Maximum Altitude: 62 km (203,000 ft) Primary Internal Payload: 120 kg (260 lb) Secondary payload spaces include a small area inside the cockpit behind the pilot or outside the vehicle in two areas in the aft fuselage fairing. Aluminum LOX tank Mach 2 (1,500 mph) speed of ascent 4G re-entry loading

Mark II Production Model Maximum Altitude: 107 km (351,000 ft) Primary Internal Payload: 120 kg (260 lb) Secondary payload spaces include the same as the Mark I. Non-toxic (non-hydrazine) reaction control system (RCS) thrusters, type 3N22 Nonburnite LOX composite tank

Mark III The Lynx Mark III was intended to be the same vehicle as the Mark II with an External Dorsal Mounted Pod of 650 kg (1,430 lb) and was to be large enough to hold a two-stage carrier to launch a microsatellite or multiple nanosatellites into low Earth orbit.

Lynx XR-5K18 engine The XR-5K18 is a piston pump fed LOX/Kerosene engine using a closed-loop brayton cycle, with 13 kN (2,900 lbf) of thrust. The development program of the XCOR Lynx 5K18 LOX/kerosene engine reached a major milestone in March 2011. Integrated test firings of the engine/nozzle combination demonstrated the ability of the aluminum nozzle to withstand the high temperatures of rocket-engine exhaust. In March 2011, United Launch Alliance (ULA) announced they had entered into a joint-development contract with XCOR for a flight-ready, 25,000 to 30,000 pounds-force (110,000–130,000 N) cryogenic LH2/LOX upper-stage rocket engine (see XCOR/ULA liquid-hydrogen, upper-stage engine development project). The Lynx 5K18 effort to develop a new aluminum alloy engine nozzle using new manufacturing techniques would remove several hundred pounds of weight from the large engine leading to significantly lower-cost and more-capable commercial and US government space flights.

Airframe It was reported in 2010 that the Mark I airframe could use a carbon/epoxy ester composite, and the Mark II a carbon/cyanate with a nickel alloy for the nose and leading-edge thermal protection.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with XCOR Lynx

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what XCOR Lynx claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to XCOR Lynx before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about XCOR Lynx ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of XCOR Lynx

In research: XCOR Lynx appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses XCOR Lynx in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: XCOR Lynx is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States, Cancelled American spaceplanes, Crewed spacecraft, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for XCOR Lynx outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study XCOR Lynx in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what XCOR Lynx means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain XCOR Lynx out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is XCOR Lynx in simple terms?

Why does XCOR Lynx matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study XCOR Lynx?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on XCOR Lynx.