Federal Aviation Administration

Office of Commercial Space Transportation

February 2005
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets About FAA/AST

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation i

The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (FAA/AST) licenses

and regulates U.S. commercial space launch and reentry activity, as well as the operation of non-federal

launch and reentry sites, as authorized by Executive Order 12465 and Title 49 United States Code, Subtitle

IX, Chapter 701 (formerly the Commercial Space Launch Act). FAA/AST’s mission is to ensure public health

and safety and the safety of property while protecting the national security and foreign policy interests of the

United States during commercial launch and reentry operations. In addition, FAA/AST is directed to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches and reentries. Additional information concerning

commercial space transportation can be found on FAA/AST’s web site at http://ast.faa.gov.

About the Office of Commercial Space Transportation
About FAA/AST Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

ii Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

NOTICE

Use of trade names or names of manufacturers in this document does not constitute an official endorsement of such

products or manufacturers, either expressed or implied, by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Contents

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation iii

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Spaceports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Recent Events in Commercial Suborbital Spaceflight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Suborbital Markets - An Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

SRLV Emerging Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Tourism and Adventure Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Science and High-Speed Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Microsatellite Orbital Insertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Microgravity Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Media, Advertising, and Sponsorship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Hardware Qualification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Commercial Remote Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Military Surveillance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Space Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

SRLV Long-Term Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Fast Package Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

High-Speed Aerospace Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Launch Company Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Acceleration Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Advent Launch Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

American Astronautics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Armadillo Aerospace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Beyond-Earth Enterprises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

High Altitude Research Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Masten Space Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Micro-Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

PanAero, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Rocketplane Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Scaled Composites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Space Transport Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

SpaceDev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

TGV Rockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Vanguard Spacecraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

XCOR Aerospace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Space Tourism Company Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Incredible Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Space Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Virgin Galactic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Table of Contents
Spaceports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

FAA Licensed Spaceports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

Proposed Spaceports Seeking an FAA License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Oklahoma Spaceport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Texas Spaceports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Appendix: A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

The WAC-Corporal (1944-1950) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

The V-2 (1945-1952) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

The Bumper-WAC (1948-1952) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

The Viking (1946-1957) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

The Aerobee (1946-1965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

The Nike (1946 to present) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Loki (1951-1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Honest John/Taurus (1951 to present) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Terrier (1959-present) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

Contents Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

iv Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Suborbital launch activity has long been overlooked by the commercial market, which for many

years focused exclusively on launching satellites.

Suborbital launch operations remained primarily in

the government sector, supporting missile tests and

scientific work, and even there activity declined significantly after the end of the Cold War. Recently,

however, there has been a resurgence of interest in

commercial suborbital spaceflight, stimulated by the

emergence of new markets, notably space tourism,

and new vehicles developed by entrepreneurs. With

the successful claiming of the Ansari X Prize, high

public interest in space travel, and new vehicles

under construction, entrepreneurial ventures are

pushing a new industry forward at a rapid pace. 

The Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles

(SRLV) and Emerging Markets report provides the

first comprehensive assessment by the Federal

Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial

Space Transportation (FAA/AST) of the commercial suborbital reusable launch industry in the

United States. This document reviews three key

areas in this commercial suborbital renaissance:

new markets for suborbital spaceflight, companies

that are developing vehicles to serve those markets,

and spaceports from which these vehicles can operate. This report also discusses the recent developments in commercial suborbital spaceflight and the

history of suborbital rocketry.

Markets

One of the biggest challenges for the commercial suborbital launch industry-arguably bigger than

developing the launch vehicles themselves-has been

identifying and developing markets that can be

served by suborbital vehicles. The commercial

orbital launch industry has the benefit of a major,

well-defined market: launching spacecraft to serve

telecommunications, remote sensing, and other

applications for commercial, civil government and

military clients. By contrast, although there is a

government market for expendable suborbital

launch services, what exists is mostly confined to

missile defense and scientific applications that have

little commercial applicability.

After initially pursuing the orbital satellite

market for low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations in

the mid-and late-1990s which has since collapsed,

several launch companies have switched to pursuit

of suborbital vehicles in a new market: public space

travel and space tourism. New companies have also

started attracting investors in the past four years.

Much of the interest in suborbital space tourism has

been galvanized by the Ansari X Prize, a $10-

million award offered to the builders of the first 

privately-developed reusable suborbital vehicle

capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers

(62 miles) altitude twice within two weeks. The

prize requirements were formulated to create 

vehicles that serve the space tourism market after

winning the prize. In addition, market surveys have

shown considerable interest in suborbital spaceflight by members of the public, including those

able to afford ticket prices of around $100,000 to

$200,000 per flight.

SRLV Proponents anticpate more markets than

space tourism. Vehicles that can fly to altitudes of

100 kilometers or more can serve commercial, civil,

or military remote sensing markets, filling a niche

between aircraft and orbiting spacecraft. The flight

profiles of such vehicles will result in several continuous minutes of microgravity, far longer than can be

created with aircraft like NASA’s KC-135 “Vomit

Comet,” or its C-9 replacement, which would permit

extended microgravity science applications as well

as the qualification of experiments intended for flight

on the International Space Station. Suborbital 

vehicles can also serve as the first stage of an orbital

launch system, carrying an expendable upper stage

that could place small spacecraft into orbit at 

potentially far lower costs than existing expendable

launch vehicles. Other markets include: advertising,

hardware qualification, remote sensing, and 

space diving.

Should some or all of these initial suborbital

markets prove viable, the resulting income will 

provide vehicle developers and operators with a

cash flow that will enable the development of new

generations of more capable reusable suborbital

vehicles. These vehicles, capable of flying to higher

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Introduction

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 1

Introduction
altitudes or longer distances downrange, can in turn

open new suborbital markets, including rapid delivery of critical packages and, eventually, high-speed

passenger transportation. However, these markets

may take decades to fully develop, as they require

not just new suborbital vehicles but improvements

in the overall transportation infrastructure.

Vehicles

Suborbital launches predate their orbital 

counterparts by decades-centuries if one considers

early rocketry experimentation in Europe and Asia.

Existing expendable suborbital rockets can trace

their heritage back to the efforts of Robert Goddard

and Wernher von Braun in the 1920s and 1930s.

The early rockets were primarily sponsored for 

the development missiles rather than space launch 

vehicles. After the second world war their uses

were expanded and they became the forerunners 

of both orbital and suborbital launch vehicles in 

use today.

The new generation of commercial suborbital

vehicles under development today bears little

resemblance to its predecessors. Most of these new

vehicles were designed to be eligible for the Ansari

X Prize, and thus are designed to safely carry three

people and be reusable. Beyond that, however,

there were few design restrictions for the prize, and

thus there has been an array of different designs put

forward. Vehicles under development include those

that launch vertically and horizontally, as well as

those deployed from aircraft or balloons. Landing

systems include a combination of wings, jets, 

rockets, and parachutes. A variety of other unique

design features were also employed to permit the

development of reusable suborbital vehicles that

could meet the requirements of the prize.

Because many of these vehicles are still in the

early development and test stages, it is not clear yet

what vehicle designs will prove optimal to serve

commercial suborbital markets. It’s quite possible

that different vehicles will emerge to serve different

markets, depending on the unique requirements of

those markets and their commercial potential.

Vehicle developers are also considering future generations of piloted reusable suborbital spacecraft,

including those with increased passenger or cargo

capacity, higher peak altitudes, increased time in

microgravity, and lower operating costs. In addition, standards for payloads will be important (e.g.

vehicle interfaces) for suborbital payloads so as to

reduce customer dependence on a single launch

services provider. This should have the effect of

reducing the risk of scheduling problems, while

fostering competition. Historically, one of the

enabling elements for new markets and for market

expansion has been the development of common

industry-wide standards.

Spaceports

The United States currently has 10 commercial

and federal spaceports. These facilities, however, are

designed primarily to support orbital launch activity,

as well as a limited number of conventional, noncommercial suborbital launches. The established 

federal ranges are less well suited, however, to 

support launch activities by the emerging generation

of piloted reusable suborbital vehicles. These vehicles often do not require the launch pads or range

infrastructure of orbital launch vehicles: many need

little more than a flat pad or runway, as well as fairly

modest tracking capabilities. Moreover, industry is

concerned about the cost and regulatory burdens of

federal launch ranges and co-located spaceports, due

to suborbital vehicle operators’ desire to fly on flexible schedules and minimize their range fees. In the

opinion of some potential operators range fees 

would account for the dominant portion of their

operations costs.1

To address the needs of suborbital vehicle

operators, several new spaceports specifically

designed to support commercial suborbital launch

activities have been or are currently being developed. Mojave Airport in California is the latest

facility to obtain an FAA/AST launch site operator

license, in June 2004, specifically to serve suborbital vehicles that take off and land horizontally.

Other spaceports in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and

Texas, are continuing to develop and are seeking

FAA/AST spaceport licenses in addition to those

already licensed in California (at Vandenberg Air

Force Base), Florida, Virginia, and Alaska. New

Mexico was selected to host the X Prize Cup, an

exhibition and competition of suborbital vehicles,

scheduled to start in 2006. 

Introduction Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

2 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
2003

April 9: Starchaser Industries of Cheshire,

England, test-fired its Churchill Mk 2 bi-propellant

engine for the first time. The engine will be used on

the company’s Thunderbird and Thunderstar suborbital RLV vehicles.

April 16: XCOR Aerospace of Mojave, California,

announced $187,500 in additional equity investments. The investments qualify the company for a

Defense Department program that matches private

capital four to one. The company will use the

investment to develop rocket pump technology 

for its planned suborbital RLV.

April 18: Scaled Composites of Mojave,

California, unveiled its “Tier One” suborbital

spaceflight program, consisting of an aircraft,

White Knight, which carries aloft a rocket-powered

spacecraft, SpaceShipOne.

May 20: Scaled Composites flew the first captive

carry flight of SpaceShipOne and White Knight

from the Mojave Airport in California.

June 26: Canadian Arrow of London, Ontario,

announced its team of six astronauts - four Canadian,

one American, and one Ukrainian - who will fly the

company’s eponymous suborbital RLV.

July 5: Armadillo Aerospace of Mesquite, Texas,

performed a drop test of a prototype of its Black

Armadillo vehicle to test parachute deployment and

its crushable nose cone.

July 22: Starchaser Industries conducted a drop test

of its Nova 2 capsule, part of its Thunderbird suborbital RLV, at Red Lake, Arizona.

August 7: Scaled Composites flew the first glide

test of SpaceShipOne, detaching from the White

Knight carrier aircraft at an altitude of 14,320

meters (47,000 feet) and gliding to a landing at the

Mojave Airport 19 minutes later.

October 20: The FAA published a notice in the

Federal Register officially defining suborbital rockets

and suborbital trajectories and stating that vehicles

that meet these definitions will be regulated by AST.

October 28: The da Vinci Project of Toronto,

Ontario, announced that it will perform the X Prize

qualification flights of its Wild Fire suborbital RLV

from Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

October 30: FAA/AST determined that XCOR

Aerospace’s launch license application for a

manned suborbital RLV was sufficiently complete.

November 22: High Altitude Research Corporation

(HARC) of Huntsville, Alabama, unveiled its

Liberator suborbital RLV project.

December 15: The X Prize adds two teams to its

competition: HARC and Space Transport

Corporation of Forks, Washington.

December 17: On the centennial of the Wright

Brothers’ first airplane flight, Scaled Composites

conducted the first powered flight of

SpaceShipOne, achieving a top speed of Mach 1.2

and peak altitude of 20,720 meters (68,000 feet).

The company also announced that Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen has been the financial sponsor

of the project.

2004

January 12: Rocketplane Ltd. (formerly Pioneer

Rocketplane) announced that it had broken ground

on facilities at the Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns

Flat, Oklahoma. Those facilities will be used to

build and operate its planned suborbital RLV.

January 21: The X Prize Foundation selected

Florida and New Mexico as finalists to host the X

Prize Cup, a competition among suborbital RLV

companies.

February 4: The House Science Committee

approved by voice vote H.R. 3752, the Commercial

Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004. The legislation specifically identifies AST as the regulating

authority for suborbital spaceflight, establishes an

experimental permit system for RLVs, and extends

the existing liability regime to cover commercial

RLV flights, including those carrying passengers.

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Recent Events

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 3

Recent Events in Commercial Suborbital Spaceflight
March 4: The House of Representatives approved

H.R. 3752 on a vote of 402-1.

March 28: Space Transport Corporation successfully test-fired its 53,400-newton (12,000-poundsforce) solid-propellant engine that will power the

company’s suborbital RLV.

April 1: FAA/AST awarded a launch license to

Scaled Composites for SpaceShipOne, the first

manned suborbital launch license issued by the

agency.

April 8: Scaled Composites conducted the second

powered flight of SpaceShipOne, achieving a top

speed of Mach 1.6 and peak altitude of 32,000

meters (105,000 feet).

April 23: FAA/AST awarded a launch license to

XCOR Aerospace for its Sphinx manned suborbital

RLV.

May 5: The X Prize announced a multimilliondollar donation from entrepreneurs Anousheh

Ansari and Amir Ansari. The prize was renamed the

Ansari X Prize.

May 11: The X Prize Foundation selected New

Mexico as the state where the annual X Prize Cup,

a series of flight competitions for suborbital vehicles, expected to begin in 2006, will be held.

May 17: GoFast, a suborbital rocket built by the

amateur Civilian Space Exploration Team, achieved

a maximum altitude of 124 kilometers (77 miles) in

a launch from the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. The

launch was the first time an amateur-built rocket

reached space.

June 15: Armadillo Aerospace conducted a 

successful test flight of its subscale technology

demonstrator vehicle in Mesquite, Texas, achieving

a maximum altitude of 40 meters (131 feet).

June 17: FAA/AST awarded a launch site operator

license to the East Kern Airport District to cover

suborbital spaceflight activities at Mojave Airport.

June 21: Scaled Composites conducted the third

powered flight of SpaceShipOne, achieving a maximum speed of Mach 2.9 and a peak altitude of

100,124 meters (328,491 feet). The flight was the

first time a commercial manned suborbital spacecraft reached space. The pilot, Michael Melvill, was

awarded FAA/AST commercial astronaut wings.

June 23: Starchaser Industries announced it would

open a U.S. office in Las Cruces, New Mexico,

with plans to begin flight operations from the

Southwest Regional Spaceport as early as 2006.

July 22: The Space Commercial Human Ascent

Serving Expeditions (CHASE) Act, S.2722, the

Senate version of H.R. 3752, was introduced.

July 27: Mojave Aerospace Ventures (the official

name of the Ansari X Prize team led by Scaled

Composites and funded by Paul Allen) announced

that it would conduct the first of its two planned

Ansari X Prize qualification flights on September

29 from Mojave, California.

August 5: The da Vinci Project announced that it

would conduct the first of its two planned Ansari 

X Prize qualification flights on October 2 from

Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

August 7: A subscale technology demonstration

vehicle built by Armadillo Aerospace crashed 

during a test flight in Mesquite, Texas, when the

vehicle ran out of propellant at an altitude of

approximately 180 meters (600 feet).

August 8: Space Transport Corporation’s Rubicon

1 vehicle was destroyed during a test flight near

Queets, Washington, when one of the vehicle’s two

solid fuel motors exploded on ignition.

August 14: Canadian Arrow conducted a successful

drop test of its passenger capsule, dropping it 2,400

meters (7,900 feet) from a helicopter into Lake

Ontario near Toronto.

August 16: Masten Space Systems, of Santa Clara,

California, announced that it planned to develop the

XA-1, a reusable unmanned suborbital vehicle capable of flying to 100 km altitude to serve microgravity

and other research and development markets.

Recent Events Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

4 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Recent Events

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 5

August 17: The da Vinci Project announced it had

changed its name to “The GoldenPalace.com Space

Project: Powered by the da Vinci Project.”

September 23: The GoldenPalace.com Space

Project: Powered by the da Vinci Project announced

that its planned October 2 launch from Kindersley,

Saskatchewan, would be delayed for an unspecified

period because of delays in the availability of a few

key components.

September 25: Beyond-Earth Enterprises of

Colorado Springs, Colorado, conducted two flight

tests of one-third scale demonstrators of its planned

recoverable suborbital rocket from Frederick,

Oklahoma; one rocket reached an altitude of over

4,575 meters (15,000 feet).

September 29: SpaceShipOne, piloted by Mike

Melvill, completed the first of its two Ansari X

Prize qualification flights at Mojave Airport, 

reaching a peak altitude of 102,870 meters (337,500

feet). The prize judging team declared the flight a

successful attempt the following day.

October 1: The GoldenPalace.com Space Project:

Powered by the da Vinci Project announced that

Transport Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the

U.S. Department of Transportation, had awarded

the team a launch license for its Wild Fire vehicle.

The license expired on November 1, 2004.

October 4: Rocketplane Ltd. announced that it had

entered into an agreement with tourism company

Incredible Adventures, of Sarasota, Florida, to 

market tourist flights on Rocketplane’s XP vehicle

starting in 2007, at a ticket price of $99,500.

October 4: SpaceShipOne, piloted by Brian Binnie,

completed the second of its two Ansari X Prize

qualification flights at Mojave Airport, reaching a

peak altitude of 112,000 meters (367,442 feet). The

prize judging team declared the flight a success the

same day, and officially declared Mojave Aerospace

Ventures, sponsors of the SpaceShipOne team, the

winners of the prize.

November 6: Mojave Aerospace Ventures was 

presented with a check for $10 million dollars and 

a trophy for capturing the Ansari X Prize in a ceremony at the St. Louis Science Center in St. Louis,

Missouri.

November 20: U.S. House of Representative

passed H.R. 5382, a revision of H.R. 3752 by a

vote of 269 to 120. H.R. 5382 addressed concerns

about language definining what types of vehicles

are considered as suborbital, crew safety and 

passengers rights to sue operators. 

December 9: U.S. Senate passes H.R. 5382 by a

unanimous vote. 
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6 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Suborbital Markets - An Overview

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 7

Expendable suborbital vehicles have been serving

several distinct markets for over 40 years. However,

the suborbital field has seen many changes during

that time. The use of suborbital vehicles, including

sounding rockets, has dropped considerably since

the Cold War period, when several hundred such

vehicles were launched annually. Suborbital vehicles were then used predominantly for military and

scientific research funded almost entirely through

government budget allocations. Universities were

also major participants in sounding rocket programs, a relationship enabled by public funding in

the form of research grants. However, the number

of Ph.D. theses dedicated to atmospheric or astronomical research dependent on sounding rockets

has continually declined since the 1970s.

During the suborbital heyday of the Cold War, it

was not uncommon for more than 700 suborbital

rockets to be launched annually to serve the military and scientific markets. Even in the late 1980s

the average number of suborbital rockets launched

for military, scientific, and educational purposes

remained over 300 annually. A significant decrease

in the early 1990s, however, has left the annual

market for suborbital launches at well under 100.

This decrease in demand for suborbital launches

has many causes, but three factors appear as the

most significant. First, with the collapse of the

Soviet Union in 1991 and the end of the Cold War,

the number of military suborbital research and 

missile test launches has dropped. Second, students

pursuing graduate research appear less likely to do

so in fields requiring sounding rockets, instead

focusing on genetics, microbiology, computer engineering, and other disciplines. Finally, traditional

users of suborbital vehicle technology are increasingly turning to other options, such as computer

simulations, stratospheric balloons, and highaltitude aircraft, to perform their research.

There are, however, a few signs that the number of

expendable suborbital vehicles launched annually

will increase in the near future. For example, the

Department of Defense (DoD) will continue to

launch interceptor and target vehicles in support of

an anti-ballistic missile shield. Another positive

sign is the growing number of rocket hobbyists and

enthusiasts interested in building and launching

rockets. These rockets have become more powerful,

and it is possible that a handful of these rocket

amateurs may pursue business plans based on 

successful vehicle performance.

Reusable suborbital vehicles, on the other hand, 

are expected to lead a renaissance in the suborbital

marketplace, beginning with human suborbital

adventure travel. While the idea of a human-rated

vehicle capable of suborbital missions is not new,

the potential for a commercial suborbital industry

is. Recent studies have demonstrated that customer

demand for suborbital adventure travel is robust

enough to get an industry rolling, and it is expected

that the winning of the Ansari X Prize will effectively initiate this emerging market. 

Other short-term commercial suborbital markets

that may emerge in the next ten years include 

science and high-speed research, microsatellite

insertion, microgravity research, hardware qualification, military and commercial remote sensing,

and advertising and sponsorship. Still more markets

are expected to emerge 30-40 years from now,

when second- and third-generation vehicles allow

for point-to-point travel and are supported by more

extensive ground infrastructure.

SRLV Emerging Markets

Tourism and Adventure Travel

Space tourism and adventure travel is likely 

to become the first successful suborbital market to

emerge during the next ten years. The birth of this

market is expected to begin around 2007, spurred in

large part by the emergence of suborbital vehicle

entrepreneurs outside the aerospace industry 

mainstream and competitive pursuit of the Ansari 

X Prize, which was won in October 2004. The X

Prize Foundation was established in 1996 to award

$10 million to the first team to launch a suborbital

reusable launch vehicle (SRLV) capable of carrying

three people to an altitude of 100 kilometers, return

safely to Earth, and repeat the exercise within two

weeks. With patronage from the Ansari family, the

renamed competition produced a group of 20 plus

domestic and international contenders and symbolSuborbital Markets - An Overview
Suborbital Markets - An Overview Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

8 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

izes the introduction of a truly reusable passengercarrying space launch vehicle. Even though the

Ansari X Prize has been won, SRLV development

and testing by the various teams is expected to continue in pursuit of recognition, business ambitions

and other prize competitions. The Foundation will

sponsor special events around the world similar in

principle to air shows, designed to promote nascent

suborbital markets and provide competitions to

keep innovation thriving. The X Prize Foundation is

attempting to create a new business model for space

business to include sponsorships. 

To follow-on the successful X Prize, the X

Prize Cup has been announced. The Cup will feature a series of cash prize competitions ranging

from fastest turn-around time, maximum number 

of passengers per flight and during the entire Cup

event, to maximum altitude attained and fastest

flight time from take-off to landing. An overall

annual X Prize Cup title will also be awarded based

on points in the other competitions. Flight competitions for the X Prize Cup are scheduled for October

2006. A Public Spaceflight Exhibition is planned

for October 2005. Both Cup-related events will be

held in New Mexico.

Unlike the commercial satellite launch market

- the focus market of initial RLV entrepreneursthe demand for tourism flights is expected to be 

significant in the coming years. Tourism companies

involved with marketing space travel, including

Space Adventures, Ltd, Incredible Adventures, and

Virgin Galactic, have described a high level of fascination and interest from the public. After Mojave

Aerospace Ventures won the Ansari X Prize, Virgin

Galactic alone reported that 7,000 people had registered for future tourist flights on a vehicle based on

SpaceShipOne to be built by Scaled Composites.

Futron Corporation produced a comprehensive report2 of space tourism and adventure travel in

2002. Futron contracted with Zogby International to

survey 450 individuals with annual incomes of at

least $250,000 or a net worth of at least $1 million.

The study identified realistic price points: between

$25,000 and $250,000 per suborbital flight, and 

$1 million to $25 million per orbital flight. A former Space Shuttle commander with substantial 

experience in human spaceflight helped to draft 

a description of what a realistic space experience

would be like for a private citizen.

The responses gathered from the 450 surveyed

individuals were analyzed over a period of eight

months, and profiles of those who were most likely

to pay for a space experience were developed. Some

42 percent of the respondents characterized themselves as either “somewhat likely,” “very likely,” or

“definitely likely” to pay for a suborbital ride, and 

51 percent of those indicated they would pay at least

$25,000 for the privilege. Customer preferences were

identified for the basic trip scenarios and compared

with the realistic description of a trip to space.

The analysis, which resulted in a 20-year

forecast of passengers and revenue, did not address

the business case for a suborbital vehicle; rather, it

addressed the demand for services that might be

provided via a suborbital or orbital vehicle. The

Vehicle 

Operator Vehicle Name

Tourism 

Marketing 

Company*

Estimated First 

Operations 

Flight

Advertised 

Price Per 

Passenger

Passengers 

Per Flight

Passengers 

Registered for 

Future 

Flights**

Launch Site

Mojave 

Aerospace 

Ventures, LLC

SpaceShipTwo Virgin Galactic 2007 $190,000 5 7,000 Mojave Airport, 

California

Rocketplane 

Ltd Rocketplane XP Incredible Adventures 2007 $99,500 2 Unannounced Burns Flat, Oklahoma

XCOR 

Aerospace Xerus Space Adventures 2007 $98,000 1 Unannounced Mojave Airport, California

Table 1: Announced Suborbital Space Tourism Agreements

*Some operators have more than one marketing company. 

**Space Adventures has reported over 100 deposits for space flights for vehicles to be determined.
Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 9

challenge for the aerospace industry is to develop a

vehicle that can most effectively meet this demand.

Results of the study showed that demand for

suborbital space adventure travel exists, and that it

remains latent because of a lack of vehicles. Once

vehicles are introduced (and the assumption for

purposes of the study was that such vehicles could

carry two passengers), the study forecast that a total

of almost 16,500 people could be traveling to 

suborbital altitudes by the year 2021. Those passengers would pay suborbital vehicle operators fares

that, combined, would total an estimated $800 

million in revenues.

It should be noted that this study focused on

suborbital and orbital passenger flights, and did not

address demand for other services in detail. In addition, the scope for the study did not focus on the

support infrastructure necessary to sustain the projected number of flights. It is possible that additional, perhaps more significant, sources of revenue

resulting from suborbital activity will emerge.

Additional space tourism studies have been done by

Space Adventures, NASA, National Space Society,

and Patrick Collins among others.

Science and High-Speed Research 

Not long after rockets were invented, it

became clear that instruments for measuring the

upper atmosphere, imaging the Sun, and otherwise

studying the environment many hundreds of 

kilometers above the Earth could be installed as

payloads. In the earliest cases, data was retrieved

on tapes that returned to Earth after a short flight.

Often the data was destroyed, but sometimes it

returned intact and revealed information about the

ionosphere and the Sun’s corona. Launching specialized suborbital rockets (sounding rockets are so

named because they have been primarily limited to

atmospheric research,) has continued to this day,

but at a much reduced level.

Since 1989, the FAA has licensed 14 suborbital launches by expendable vehicles, all connected to government sponsors. For most universities

with interest in flying space science experiments

and satellites, cost is the primary issue. Launches

have been difficult to fund without government

support: some universities build complete satellites

with no budget to actually launch them. Principal

investigators funded by NASA are unable to select

their own commercial launch services because their

experiment funding includes money to launch on

government-built suborbital vehicles, typically from

Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. This has led to

U.S. government control of the vehicle market for

civil science payloads. 

Because of recent budget cuts to NASA’s

sounding rocket program, fewer launches are

expected and scientific review panels are taking

fewer risks.3 The cost of launching solar and astrophysics missions requiring higher performance

vehicles and recoverable payloads from White

Sands Missile Range is no longer affordable.4

New, reusable suborbital launch vehicle firms

believe they can offer more frequent flight opportunities at similar or lower costs than NASA if 

science investigators were given funding vouchers

for selecting their own launch vehicles. 

A small but proven international commercial

market for expendable suborbital vehicles has been

a high-speed test bed for scientific experiments.

Australia’s University of Queensland flew two

supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) test missions called Hyshot from Woomera, Australia, on

Astrotech’s Terrier-Orion vehicles. Even though the

launch was not conducted for or by the U.S. government, the Terrier-Orion vehicle was built by an

American company, Astrotech and therefore these

missions were licensed by the FAA. The 2001 and

2002 flights will be repeated with future missions

by DTI (formerly Astrotech), possibly in 2005. 

Other countries have emerged as major

providers of suborbital launch services, including

Norway, Japan, Brazil, and India. No particular

country dominates the field of suborbital highaltitude research.

SRLVs may introduce a resurgence in suborbital high-altitude research, perhaps akin to the 

phenomenally successful joint NASA-Air Force 

X-15 vehicle flights of the 1960s. One advantage of

the X-15, beyond its high speed, was the ability to

change out instrument racks quickly and efficiently,

reducing turn-around time in order to accommodate

researchers’ schedules. Such an approach would be

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10 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

ideal for a commercial vehicle used for research

and other purposes. In addition, a single SRLV can

be used to monitor the Earth’s upper atmosphere

over the span of many years at potentially a much

lower total cost than to conduct the same research

using many expendable rockets. 

Microsatellite Orbital Insertion

Suborbital vehicles can be designed as a first

stage for launching small satellites into LEO.

Essentially, a piloted SRLV would reach a specific

altitude determined by such parameters as orbit

desired, atmospheric conditions, and mass of the

payload, and then release an upper stage with the

payload attached. The upper stage - in much the

same way an upper stage would send a satellite to

geosynchronous orbit (GEO) after separating from

an orbital launch vehicle - would boost the small

satellite to the required orbit. The SRLV would then

coast back to a landing site, either powered or

unpowered depending on the design. 

A similar concept already being pursued by

the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

(DARPA) is called RASCAL, or Responsive

Access, Small Cargo, Affordable Launch. RASCAL

will be composed of an air-breathing first stage

capable of reaching 61 kilometers (200,000 ft) altitude while carrying a small upper stage. The complete system will be capable of deploying 50 kilogram (110 pound) microsatellites directly into

orbits with any inclination. The RASCAL vehicle

will be able to take off within one hour of a launch

command and refly again within 24 hours at a cost

of no more than $750,000 per flight. The program

has progressed past the Preliminary Design Review

stage due to the efforts of the Space Launch

Corporation contractor team. Phase 3 development

is scheduled to begin during 1st quarter of 2005.

During Phase 3 prototype vehicles will be construted. The first satellite launches are expected to occur

in 2008.5

The market for microsatellites is not well

understood, but enough data exists to indicate that

at least two customer groups would be interested in

a very low-cost method of launching “throwaway”

microsatellites. One Stop Satellite Solutions

(OSSS), based in Utah, builds microsatellites primarily for university clients. According to OSSS,

several of their satellites remain on the shelves

because universities simply cannot afford the

launch costs. The satellite may cost as little as a

few thousand dollars, but the launch is orders of

magnitude more expensive. If a vehicle could

launch them at lower costs, OSSS foresees thousands of its satellites being launched annually in

twenty years.

Similarly, agencies like DARPA have 

an interest in studying technologies related to

microsatellites, including constellations of maneuverable mini-spacecraft. Some high technology

research and development efforts end without

achieving actual space testing. If the price tag 

of such projects could be reduced by utilizing 

inexpensive launch options, more money could 

be spent on satellites and related technologies.

Microgravity Research 

SRLVs may participate in and stimulate 

microgravity research. While suborbital RLVs cannot

match the extended microgravity research possible in

orbit, more experiments can be sent up than might be

otherwise possible for customers waiting for orbital

flights with a faster turnaround. SRLVs can also

allow researchers greater flexibility at lower costs

than for researchers who must depend on the occasional orbital launch that costs hundreds of millions

of dollars. For example, physiological research

could be conducted on a routine basis, a particularly useful scenario if the vehicle can maneuver (as

opposed to a ballistic vehicle whose maneuverability

is relatively limited). Indeed, the researcher himself

or herself can go along for the ride on a SRLV, rather

than depend on a professional astronaut who must 

be trained.

Media, Advertising, and Sponsorship

Entertainment media outlets, advertising

agencies, and sponsorship by a wide variety of

interested parties is expected to show interest in

new suborbital launch vehicles. While these groups

will not necessarily purchase a launch, they will

provide an important source of revenue for SRLV

operators. In addition, it is probable that there will

be an initial spike of interest among these groups to

exploit the “newness” of SRLV technologies, followed by a gradual flattening out as the overall market matures. Feature and documentary filmmakers
may have an interest in pursuing new opportunities

presented by access to space on suborbital vehicles.

The Discovery Channel paid for rights to telecast

two documentaries about the Ansari X Prize in

October 2004. Similarly, access to Russian submersibles, previously unavailable to the commercial

sector, allowed filmmaker James Cameron to visit

the sunken Titanic up close for the movie “Titanic”

and documentary “Ghosts of the Abyss.” Realistic

microgravity scenes in “Apollo 13” were filmed

aboard a modified KC-135 (“Vomit Comet”) airplane, which has since been turned into a commercial business by the Zero-Gravity Corporation.

Commercial SRLV operators may provide a new

outlet for visual entertainment in the decades ahead.

Advertising is a tried-and-true method of 

selling products and ideas. Commercial SRLVs, and

even non-commercial ones, will likely be emblazoned with the livery of the manufacturers and

sponsors in the same tradition we see today with

orbital launch vehicles. It is rare that a third party

will pay for the privilege to advertise on a launch

vehicle, but it has been done. Pizza Hut, in one

famous example, paid to have its logo pasted to the

side of a Russian Proton vehicle. During the final

Ansari X Prize qualifying flight SpaceShipOne 

featured the Virgin Group logo on its fuselage.

Advertising could also come from companies

who provided subcomponents, engineering, design,

and other services for the prime contractor or SRLV

operator. Other opportunities exist for non-profit

organizations and political campaigns. SRLVs 

present a unique opportunity for advertisers not

only because of their novelty, but also because

SRLVs represent an opportunity to link the oncedistant idea of space with the average consumer.

Media exposure also makes SRLV advertising

attractive to potential advertisers.

Finally, sponsorship, which has a long history

in jump-starting nascent markets, will have a role 

to play as the emerging SRLV industry gains a

foothold. Sponsorship can come in a variety of

forms, including sending people into space as a

result of winning a lottery or prize paid for by the

sponsor, or providing astronauts and passengers

with jumpsuits covered in patches representing

donor organizations (similar to the suits worn by

NASCAR drivers). Another opportunity already

exploited in orbit is granting astronauts the right to

utilize a product in space in exchange for the novelty of simply seeing the product used in space.

Public sponsorship through the collection of

monies from interested organizations and individuals to create prizes to be awarded for a variety of

contests related to SRLVs, such as the Ansari X

Prize and the X Prize Cup will perhaps profoundly

affect the development of SRLVs. Contests take

advantage of the competitive streak in human

beings and promote creativity, innovation, and

teamwork, often across traditional political barriers.

These contests by necessity break through stagnant

thinking and the status quo, which is why they are

effective in jump-starting emerging markets. 

Prizes sponsored by companies and wealthy

investors were awarded for a variety of aviation 

firsts and were key motivators in sparking what has

become the commercial aviation industry today.

Prizes often promote more spending than the amount

of the purse. They allow the promoter to advance his

goal without choosing a technology or a vehicle.

Development of the required technology often continues after the reward has been claimed. An historical example of this is the Vin Fiz-sponsored cross

country flight in 1911, in which Cal Rogers flew a

Wright Flyer from Long Island to Long Beach in

pursuit of the Hearst Prize. Publisher William

Randolph Hearst offered a $50,000 prize to the first

aviator to cross the country in 30 days or less.

Rogers took 84 days, 16 stops and endured 19 crashes during the flight, but kept going even after it was

clear he could not win the prize. In a more recent

example, Canada’s Da Vinci Project, Canadian

Arrow, America’s Armadillo Aerospace and others

have continued development of their vehicles, even

though Mojave Aerospace Ventures has already won

the Ansari X Prize.

Hardware Qualification

Another potential use of SRLVs would be to

subject equipment to the launch and microgravity

environment prior to certification on manned space

platforms like the International Space Station.

However, this market would compete with cheaper

testing methods currently available such as 

aircraft and ground-based load-testing facilities.

Furthermore, the loads offered by the piloted 

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12 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

vehicles currently in development might only be

attractive to equipment developers intending their

hardware for transport and use aboard manned space

vehicles. Unmanned rockets subject equipment to

sounds, loads, and vibrations in excess of human 

tolerances. Aircraft offer about 30 seconds of 

microgravity during the arcing flight paths they use

to generate microgravity conditions. The current

generation of SRLVs while offering several minutes

of microgravity, are not envisioned to conduct aircraft style flight profiles. SRLV operators would

have to develop a method to repeat or extend the

microgravity times during a single flight in order to

offer a competing experience to hardware developers. The aircraft in current use also offer more 

volume for experimentation. While no SRLVs are

currently being offered with similar accommodations, as the designs mature larger vehicles may

appear. However, it is conceivable that if an 

equipment item is small enough to share a flight

with other cargo or passengers then cost might

become low enough to make SRLVs a viable 

alternative to established methods of manned 

flight hardware qualifications.

Commercial Remote Sensing

The remote sensing industry consists of 

four main parts: aerial imagery, ground stations,

value-added products (often called geographic

information systems, or GIS), and satellites. Total

sales for all sectors of the U.S. remote sensing

industry amounted to an estimated $2 billion in

2001, with the bulk attributable to the sales of GIS

software and services and aerial imagery. Worldwide

sales of raw commercial satellite remote sensing

imagery generated an estimated $200 million in

revenues for 2001, with a projected revenue total

approaching $500 million by 2010.

Typical platforms (aircraft and satellites) host

a suite of passive sensors designed to detect reflected light and include panchromatic (visible imagery,

such as that produced by a camera) and infrared

(IR) sensors. Active sensors providing radar and

lidar imagery are also examples of services offered

by aerial and satellite remote sensing providers.

While aerial imagery is obtained relatively close to

the Earth, yielding high-resolution imagery and

real-time data across a broad spectrum, the services

provided are expensive. In addition, legal and international restrictions prevent aircraft from flying

over selected territories. Remote sensing satellites,

in contrast, orbit high above the Earth providing

essentially the same types of services at less expensive rates relative to aerial methods, though generally with a slightly degraded resolution (this is rapidly changing, however). Also, real-time commercial satellite remote sensing products are not yet

available. Some emerging SRLV businesses have

recognized a “gap” between altitudes exploited by

aerial platforms and those occupied by LEO satellites. This niche, the suborbital remote sensing

realm, may prove useful for some clients interested

in high-resolution, quick-turnaround imagery covering a larger area than an aircraft could. A satellite

could cover the same area, but its orbit may not traverse the area of interest for several days.

Potential clients include disaster relief agencies, insurance companies, oil companies, international banks, meteorologists, and military organizations. These groups have a strong interest in inexpensive, real-time, high-resolution, quick-turnaround remote sensing products. The challenge for

commercial SRLV operators will be to keep the

cost of operating and maintaining their SRLVs low,

so that inexpensive services relative to aerial platforms can be provided. And like aircraft, a SRLV

conducting remote sensing flights would need to

operate near the target area of interest. The flexibility of operating from multiple locations and local

airspace regulations would need to be considered.

Some emerging SRLV providers, like TGV

Rockets, expect to reap the benefits of this

untapped market.

Military Surveillance

Collection of national security imagery is

done by both aerial platforms and satellites. Crewed

aircraft have been used by the military for almost a

century. Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) are 

relatively new to modern warfare, with projections

showing that many such vehicles will be flying

around the war zones of the future. As it is today,

these systems cover several “layers” in terms of

remote sensing platforms. Satellites adequately

cover the ultimate high ground but have limited

maneuvering ability, while UAVs and crewed

reconnaissance aircraft like the U-2 are deployed

within the Earth’s atmosphere and are highly

maneuverable.
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Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 13

Suborbital launch vehicle remote sensing systems have been proposed as a method of “filling in”

the layer between satellites and aircraft. Such a 

system is envisioned by TGV Rockets, as a “pop-up”

capability giving military leaders a near real-time

snapshot (perhaps even video for short periods) 

of theater-wide operations. TGV plans to offer its

mobile platform launched MICHELLE B vehicle

for this purpose.6 The challenge for suborbital 

systems is to be cost-competitive with other 

aerial vehicles while offering unique services. 

Space Diving

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the

U.S. Navy and the U.S. Air Force conducted

manned parachute jumps from high altitude balloons, prior to the first NASA Mercury astronaut

suborbital and orbital missions. Joe Kittinger of the

United States Air Force, who successfully jumped

from an altitude of 31,300 meters (102,800 feet) in

1960, currently holds the world record for a human

high-altitude dive.7 During the 1960s, the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

researched orbital escape systems for astronauts.

Several “space parachutes” were designed featuring

maneuvering thrusters, conical drag skirts, inflatable cones, and spray-on ablative shielding to 

protect a single astronaut during reentry. It was 

concluded that a self-contained ballistic recovery

system could be designed to bring a stranded 

astronaut safely to the ground.

Recently, there have been plans by some to

break Joe Kittinger’s 31-kilometer (19 miles) altitude record. Several teams from across the globe

are intent on jumping from altitudes of almost 45

kilometers (28 miles). Some of the competitors are:

Cheryl Sterns, who will make an attempt from an

undisclosed site in the western United States during

September 2005; Michel Fournier of France; and

Rodd Millner of Australia. These jumps will be

conducted using stratospheric balloons. The balloon

is the limiting factor for the world record pursuers.

The use of an SRLV, which is less reliant on atmospheric conditions, will allow competitors to easily

break any previously held altitude records using

balloons as platforms.

The Canadian Arrow team, a competitor for

the Ansari X Prize, is proposing a new extreme

sport called “spacediving.”8 As Canadian Arrow

envisions it, future spacedivers could routinely take

60-second suborbital flights, reach apogee, then

proceed to jump out while wearing a counter pressure suit, and free fall to Earth from an altitude of

64 kilometers (40 miles) or more. Today, reaching

an altitude of 37,000 meters (121,400 feet) to make

a high-altitude jump requires a balloon ride of

many hours. An SRLV, on the other hand, could

take spacedivers from the ground to this altitude in

minutes. This sport will likely start with jumps initially at lower altitude; with higher record-breaking

jumps following as experience is gained.

Space diving could bring about new advances

in spacesuit design. One anticipated development 

is the counter pressure suit. This type of suit uses

elastic material instead of gas pressure to protect 

an astronaut from the vacuum of space.

A detailed market analysis on the demand for

space diving remains to be pursued. According to

Christchurch Parachute School in New Zealand, 

“there are a growing number of people who are

trying skydiving in the search for the ultimate

leisure activity. Consequently, the skydiving

industry is experiencing rapid growth in the

adventure tourism market to cater for this need.

This demand is creating a whole new industry

for people to become involved in and creating

many new full-time positions not previously 

considered as serious career options.” 

If leisure skydiving is increasing in popularity, it

stands to reason that a small but growing minority

will be interested in pushing the envelope ever

higher. Skydivers will make excellent suborbital

customers, as they understand safety procedures

and systems. The adventurous few who have made

high-altitude jumps will be familiar with oxygen

systems and high-altitude survival. 

SRLV Long-Term Markets

Fast Package Delivery

In a typical business as services become more

efficient, competition will become fiercer and customers will demand more. Delivering packages is

an excellent example of this phenomenon. Consider

that before 1973, when Federal Express began
operations, people had to wait weeks before packages were delivered. This was mainly because of

operational issues rather than the vehicles involved.

In 1965, Yale University undergraduate Fred Smith

wrote a term paper about passenger route systems

used by most airfreight shippers, and concluded

that operationally, these routes were being used

inefficiently. Smith wrote of the need for shippers

to have a system designed specifically for airfreight

that could accommodate time-sensitive shipments

such as medicines, computer parts, and electronics.

Apparently, Smith’s paper received an average

grade, but the student knew he had an idea that

could serve as a business plan. After several years

of planning, he founded Federal Express in 1971

and started operations with a small fleet of aircraft

in 1973.9

The key to success was less about aircraft and

more about smart logistics. The subsequent introduction of laser tracking technologies, more efficient long-range aircraft, satellite asset tracking,

better management applications, and streamlined

collection nodes made FedEx and some of its competitors known and trusted commodities on a global

scale. In 2003, FedEx reported total revenue of

$22.5 billion,10 generated through the work of

214,000 employees.11 Its main competitor, United

Parcel Service (UPS), is actually a larger company,

having generated about $30 billion in revenues 

during the past year. UPS was founded in 1907 as a

messenger company in the United States, and has

grown by focusing on enabling commerce around

the globe. Other competitors include DHL and

Emery.

It is possible that, if effectively integrated

within a larger logistical framework, SRLVs could

become a valuable asset for companies like FedEx

and UPS. “Effectively integrated” means that the

SRLV would operate more or less like an aircraft,

and thus not require its own specialized launch pad,

exotic fuels, and a high degree of maintenance.

These factors alone demonstrate that SRLVs used

as fast package deliverers is some time off, since

SRLVs have yet to be introduced and proven as

reliable, safe, and effective modes of transportation.

It was only after aircraft had been used for 60 years

that a Federal Express business model became

achievable. UPS was founded four years after the

Wright brothers’ first successful heavier-than-air

flight, but the company did not ramp up air 

operations until it became clear Federal Express

was a serious competitor.

Whether a significant market exists for packages to be delivered halfway around the planet

within hours remains unclear. It is probable that, in

a world faster-paced than the one we live in today,

the notion of packages delivered from Tokyo to

Paris within several hours will be desired. Perhaps

organ donation is a market for charter SRLVs,

though advances in biomedical research (such as

growing organs) may negate the demand for such

extreme transportation services.

Companies will likely not invest in SRLVs

unless they can be successfully integrated into their

already highly-efficient operations, and this is

dependent on the technologies and processes 

intrinsic to the vehicle itself. If a low-cost vehicle 

operates in the same manner as an aircraft, it is very

likely one will see FedEx and UPS SRLVs at aerospaceports one day in the future. This application is

considered far-term because it may take decades for

SRLVs to become efficient, reliable, and safe

enough to operate within a logistical framework.

High-Speed Aerospace Transportation

High-speed aerospace transportation from one

point to another on the surface of the Earth is perhaps the “holy grail” of the suborbital industry. The

idea of taking a suborbital flight from New York to

Sydney, Australia in two hours has been around for

decades, and several attempts to pursue the concept

have started enthusiastically only to be shut down

when reality sets in. It is very easy to look at a new

Boeing 777 or even the older, now-decommissioned

Concorde, and extrapolate a near-term future in

which special aircraft can travel farther and faster

for the same ticket price one might be charged

today for first-class service. However, many things

must take place for this to become a reality.

Current commercial air travel is hampered by

serious logistical problems linked in large part to an

adherence to a very old concept involving hub 

airports and directed flight routes. In a sense very 

little has changed, other than the aircraft themselves,

since the 1930s. As SRLVs must accelerate to 

hypersonic velocities their use will likely be more

Suborbital Markets - An Overview Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

14 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
effective in long-distance, point-to-point travel. As

with fast package delivery, the issue regarding 

passenger-carrying SRLVs has less to do with technologies and more to do with processes. Changing

processes related to a national infrastructure depended upon by millions of people each day is a daunting

problem beyond the scope of this report. But efforts

are underway to radically rethink how airplanes are

operated and how assets are transported. Once these

complicated problems are solved, at least partially,

then it might become apparent that a need for large

passenger-carrying SRLVs exists.

If the new SRLV developers produce a system

that can be operated by a profit-making service

provider over a sustained period, this could 

constitute the beginning of high-speed transportation. Travel could go from one spaceport to another

or to an existing airport runway. As the distances

increase, so do requirements for cross-range

maneuvering, fuel storage, and navigation. The

design of the vehicle may become bigger, perhaps

allowing for the transport of additional people or

cargo. Point-to-point travel will become a reality if

SRLVs prove to be as operable, maintainable, and

safe as passenger and cargo aircraft.

Two major sectors may benefit from SRLVs:

Charter service and long-distance transportation of

passengers and goods. In the former case, SRLVs

could be used for the transport of people and certain types of cargo via transcontinental suborbital

routes. For example, transporting key personnel and

equipment to disaster zones will require that these

assets be deployed as soon as possible. Several

hours can make a big difference in many scenarios.

The military may be interested in an SRLV for 

similar reasons, but these vehicles may not be 

operated by a commercial entity. 

Long distance suborbital transportation of

passengers and goods is what people imagine as the

pinnacle application of suborbital technology. This

concept involves a large vehicle capable of taking

off from a runway and reaching an altitude of

around 100 kilometers (62 miles), maintaining the

apex altitude for several minutes to an hour or so

depending on destination, then returning to an 

aerospaceport similar to the one it departed from.

This scenario oversimplifies the problem, however.

Assuming a market exists the technology necessary

to develop a vehicle capable of such a transit is

daunting. The vehicle must not only transition from

a sea level-pressure environment of 80 percent

nitrogen and 20 percent oxygen to a vacuum microgravity environment, but must also return safely.

While propulsion poses obvious difficulties, efficiency is perhaps a more challenging area. Instead

of three types of engines (turbofan to scramjet to

rocket), perhaps a hybrid of the three can be developed. This would, however, represent a level of

efficiency possibly requiring decades of practical

application and research. A more near-term design

may feature a two-staged system similar to 

Mojave Aerospace Venture’s White Knight and

SpaceShipOne. In addition, the airframe must 

be designed to maximize efficiency as the vehicle 

transitions from sea level to vacuum to the hightemperature environment of reentry, and then do it

again and again as it fulfills “airline-like” operations. Lifting bodies and waveriders are just two

examples of these airframe concepts. 

An additional concern could be that of passenger comfort. Space motion sickness (SMS) is a

condition that typically occurs during the first 72

hours of spaceflight and during transitions from 

different gravity environments. A 1990 study12 by

J.R. Davis and others indicated about 67 percent 

of Shuttle astronauts express symptoms of SMS.

Scientists have not been able to determine the exact

cause, but SMS appears to stem from several root

causes. In general, it may be a result of imbalances

in the inner ear caused by conflicting signals

between fluid in the semicircular canals of the ear

not having a gravity reference and visual disorientation. Mercury and Gemini astronauts did not report

motion sickness, possibly because of close surroundings inside the small capsules and because a

majority of the flight was spent buckled up. On the

other hand, advances in biomedical research could

mitigate the problem, either with drugs (e.g. phenergan, scopolamine) or with surgery (for business

travelers who might take suborbital flights routinely). Scopolamine patches have proven themselves

to be very effective in preventing terrestrial motion

sickness and may also help with preventing space

sickness. The results of a 1993 study indicate that

Phenergan (Promethazine hydrochloride) appears to

be even more effective in treating the symptoms of

SMS.13 It is likely that initial passengers will be

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Suborbital Markets - An Overview

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 15
required to be strapped in for the duration of their

suborbital excursions. One of the results from the

2002 Futron Corporation space tourism market

study indicates that if customers were required to

be strapped in for the whole flight 36% of the

potential clients would be somewhat less likely to

take the flight versus the requirement not making a

difference to 34% of the respondents.14

The same arguments made earlier for fast

package delivery apply to high-speed aerospace

transportation: people will demand more efficient

services in the future as our world becomes more

and more intricately linked by transportation and

telecommunications routes. In the case of SRLVs,

as in computer processing, low-cost, high-speed

services will likely always be in demand. As

SRLVs demonstrate reliably safe and efficient 

operations, more people, including investors, 

will become interested in their potential services. 

In addition, as suborbital transportation

becomes routine, the pursuit of orbital flights will

likely become a new incentive and challenge. 

Suborbital Markets - An Overview Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

16 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Acceleration Engineering

Micky Badgero formed

Acceleration Engineering to

develop a rocket ship called

Lucky Seven in pursuit of the

Ansari X Prize. Lucky Seven

employs methane/oxygen liquid

rocket engines to generate

72,000 newtons (16,200

pounds-force) of thrust to lift

the 2,515-kilogram (5,532-pound) vehicle to 

altitude. Engine cutoff is planned to occur at 52

kilometers (32 miles). Peak acceleration during

ascent is 3 g. The vehicle will perform a ballistic

reentry and deploy a parafoil to guide the vehicle to

a vertical landing within one kilometer (0.6 miles)

of the launch site.

The one-person company has released few

details about the vehicle, which has been under

development since the mid-1990s. Badgero, a 

computer science graduate student at Michigan

State University, has stated that the vehicle is 

privately funded and that construction will 

continue in his garage as funds permit.

Advent Launch Services

Houston-based Advent Launch

Services is developing the sealaunched Advent vehicle for the

Ansari X Prize competition and

beyond. The Advent is a winged

booster rocket 11 meters (35

feet) high with a gross liftoff

mass of about 5,700 kilograms

(12,600 pounds). The rocket

will burn liquid methane and

oxygen to produce a thrust of 84,100 newtons

(18,900 pounds-force). It takes off vertically from

an ocean launch site, firing its engines for 97 seconds. The vehicle continues on a ballistic trajectory,

reaching a peak altitude of 105 kilometers (65

miles); passengers experience three-and-a-half minutes of microgravity during this phase of the flight.

Advent then performs an aerodynamic controlled

glide, landing horizontally back at the launch location in the ocean.

Advent Launch Services president Jim

Akkerman, a former NASA engineer with extensive

propulsion systems experience, has assembled an

11-member core team and a volunteer network to

make his concept a reality. Development of the

Advent has thus far been confined to subscale 

models and engine testing. The company hoped to

complete qualification of the propulsion system by

the end of 2004.15 The Advent is considered to be a

forerunner of an orbital space tourism vehicle that

the company hopes to construct.

American Astronautics

American Astronautics, headquartered

in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, entered its

Spirit of Liberty vehicle concept into

the Ansari X Prize competition in

January 2003. The vehicle, 17 meters

(56 feet) tall and weighing 9,950 kilograms (21,875 pounds), is powered by

a single kerosene/liquid oxygen liquid fuel booster

that generates 155,700 newtons (35,000 poundsforce) of thrust. The main engine will fire for 81

seconds, generating accelerations of up to 4 gs.

After engine burnout a seven-person crew cabin

separates from the vehicle and continues a ballistic

ascent, reaching a peak altitude of 110 kilometers

(68 miles). The booster and capsule each descend

using controlled aerobraking and parafoils; airbags

cushion the landing of both vehicle sections.

American Astronautics is led by Bill Sprague,

a 30-year veteran of a wide range of missile and

launch vehicle programs. Construction of the

Liberty is reportedly proceeding at a steady pace,

although the company has released few details

about the progress of its efforts.

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Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 17

Launch Company Profiles
Armadillo Aerospace

Armadillo Aerospace, based in

Mesquite, Texas, is actively

developing suborbital vehicle

concepts for manned flight. Its

current design, Black Armadillo,

will use liquid propellant engines

generating 133,500 newtons

(30,000 pounds-force) of thrust

that burn for 144 seconds. The

vehicle, 7 meters (24 feet) tall

and weighing 6,350 kilograms (14,000 pounds),

will lift off vertically and achieve a maximum 

altitude of 108 kilometers (67 miles). Black

Armadillo will then perform a ballistic descent 

and land vertically under rocket power; a previous

design incorporated a parachute landing using a

crushable nose cone.

Armadillo has made considerable progress to

date, performing a number of tests of engines and

other vehicle technologies and incorporating those

results into the design of their suborbital vehicle.

Armadillo originally planned to use hydrogen 

peroxide propellant, but switched to a “mixed

monopropellant” of methanol and a 50% hydrogen

peroxide solution after encountering difficulties

obtaining high-quality hydrogen peroxide. The

company is also considering developing a liquid

oxygen/ methanol bipropellant engine. In 2002 the

team demonstrated the potential of the engines by

creating a rocket-powered hover chair. As recently

as the first quarter of 2004, Armadillo completed

short hops with its propulsion unit as it worked

towards a demonstration of the vehicle’s ability to

hover, key to the powered descent design.

The Armadillo flight concept was finally 

successfully demonstrated June 15, 2004, when a

subscale demonstrator flew to 40 meters (131 feet)

altitude and landed. However, a second demonstration flight in August 2004 failed when the vehicle

crashed after exhausting its propellant supply.

Despite this setback, the Armadillo team remains

committed to maturing its design, and has completed work on a second demonstrator vehicle. Flight

testing of the design is expected to resume in 2005.

Armadillo Aerospace is led by John Carmack,

a software developer who cofounded the computer

games developer id Software. Carmack is funding

the development effort using his personal funds. In

late April 2004, Armadillo began the process of

applying for an FAA launch license. Flight tests to

date have been under the amateur exclusion to the

launch licensing regulations.

Beyond-Earth Enterprises

Beyond-Earth Enterprises of

Colorado Springs, Colorado is

developing unmanned suborbital vehicles to serve the space

memorabilia and related markets. The company’s “Road to

Space” program features the

development of a progression of

recoverable suborbital launch

vehicles eventually capable of

flying to 100 kilometers (62

miles). The latest flights of its test program took

place on September 25, 2004, when the company

launched a pair of one-third-scale demonstrators

from Frederick, Oklahoma. One rocket, dubbed

Sapphire, reached an altitude of over 4,572 meters

(15,000 feet); its payload capsule landed by 

parachute and was successfully recovered.

Beyond-Earth Enterprises has a six-person

staff led by CEO Joe Latrell. The company is initially marketing its rockets to glean revenue from

the “gee-whiz” aspect of space flight, believing that

there is a market for any item or object that has

touched space. For fees as low as $80, the company

is offering to launch small objects like business

cards or photos on suborbital trajectories into space.

Beyond-Earth hopes its suborbital rocket, with its

23-kilogram (50-pound) payload capacity, generates

between $100,000 and $200,000 per flight. Each

recoverable vehicle is expected to be capable of ten

flights before retirement. This initial endeavor is

expected to cost the company about $2 million. 

The company expects to have sufficient demand to

allow at least one flight per month in order to keep

its business and development plans on track.16

Launch Company Profiles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

18 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Fundamental Technology Systems

In Orlando, Florida, Fundamental Technology

Systems is developing a rocket plane called Aurora.

A ride on the Aurora will be similar to that of other

high-performance craft operating closer to Earth.

The Aurora has an 11-meter (36-foot) fuselage and

a 9-meter (30-foot) wingspan, and is powered by a

44,480-newton (10,000-pounds-force) hydrogen

peroxide and kerosene rocket engine. The vehicle

features a pressurized cabin to allow the threeperson crew (pilot, co-pilot, and mission specialist/passenger) to enjoy the flight without the aid of

pressure suits. The flight profile is similar to that 

of a regular aircraft, with a horizontal takeoff,

climb to altitude, descent, and runway landing.

Both co-founders, Ray Nielsen and Jim Toole,

have over 25 years of experience designing highperformance aircraft. Recent work on the Aurora

vehicle has focused on avionics and rocket engine

development, although little progress on vehicle

development has been reported to date. The company

also assisted another suborbital vehicle developer,

Scaled Composites, by providing the flight navigation unit for SpaceShipOne.

High Altitude Research Corporation

Huntsville, Alabama-based High Altitude

Research Corporation (HARC) entered

the Ansari X Prize competition in

November 2003 with its Liberator vehicle. The Liberator, 13 meters (43 feet)

tall and weighing 4,536 kilograms

(10,000 pounds) at launch, is a singlestage design using two LOX/kerosene

liquid-fuel engines that generate a total of 106,800

newtons (24,000 pounds-force) of thrust. The

engines were originally designed by Space

America, a defunct venture from the late 1990s to

develop a low-cost orbital launch vehicle. HARC,

which has developed a number of hybrid rocket

motors, initially planned to use a small hybrid

engine for an escape tower mounted on the top of

the vehicle, but elected instead to develop a small

liquid-propellant engine. Although the cabin is

pressurized, the crew will wear pressure suits

throughout the flight.

HARC has substantial experience conducting

launches from sea-borne platforms, which it plans

to use for the Liberator vehicle. The main engines

will fire for one minute, after which the booster

stage will separate and parachute back into the

ocean, while the crew cabin continues on its ballistic trajectory to 100 kilometers (62 miles). During

descent the cabin will deploy its own parachute and

fall to an ocean landing point. Passengers can

expect acceleration and deceleration of up to 5 gs.

HARC, led by Gregory Allison, has extensive

experience developing suborbital launch vehicles. 

It has produced hybrid rockets for atmospheric

research since 1994, and held the world record for

the highest amateur rocket flight until the GoFast 

private space launch in 2004. The corporation also

claims one hundred successful firings of its hybrid

rocket motors, as well as several launches from high

altitude balloons. The company raised about $5 million as of the end of 2003, but expects it will require

an additional $9.5 million in order to complete the

full-scale Liberator.

Masten Space Systems

Masten Space Systems (MSS) of

Santa Clara, California is a new

entrant to the commercial suborbital spaceflight field, having

opened for business in August

2004. The Masten concept is to

develop a series of vertical takeoff vertical landing (VTVL)

rockets called the Extreme

Altitude (XA) line. These vehicles will cater to suborbital research markets such as

high-altitude atmospheric measurements, low-cost

solar astronomy, space particle and plasma research,

low-cost exoatmospheric astronomy, near Earth

object detection, microgravity research, and Earth

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Launch Company Profiles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 19
observation. The XA-1.0 is planned to be able to lift

a 100-kilogram (220-pound) payload to 100 kilometers (62 miles), and be able to repeat that flight several times in a single day. MSS plans to offer flights

for between $20,000 and $30,000.

David Masten, a 12-year veteran of the information technology and management consulting

fields, leads the company. The rest of the fivemember core team is composed of members from

various engineering fields; most team members are

also members of grassroots space societies like the

Experimental Rocket Propulsion Society and

Artemis Society International. The company plans

to follow an evolutionary approach and design a

suborbital version to earn revenue and gain operations experience before scaling up the design into

an orbital version.

Micro-Space

Micro-Space, based in Denver, Colorado, is 

developing the Crusader X vehicle, whose design is 

spartan compared to most other designs. Crusader

X consists of a “sled” pulled aloft by two parallel

clusters of rockets. Six hydrogen peroxide and alcohol liquid-fuel engines will generate 1,334-2,224

newtons (300-500 pounds-force) of thrust each to

propel the vehicle. The crew will rely on pressure

suits to provide life support. Passengers will experience lift-off accelerations of 4 gs after a ten-second

engine run-up. Powered flight will last 60 seconds,

after which the vehicle will then enter a ballistic

trajectory. Presumably, at apogee a passenger might

be able to jump off for a solo parachute descent.

The launch vehicle will descend to a water landing

using a ballute and parafoil.

Micro-Space is a six-person team led by

Richard Speck. The team is currently engaged in

the testing and development of the Crusader X.

Subscale versions of the liquid booster rockets have

been flown. A crew cabin mock-up and a half-scale

version of the vehicle’s inter-rocket pod structure

have also been fabricated. Parts of the full-scale

boosters are said to be in the company’s possession.

Initial flight-testing was to have begun in late 

2003, but there have been no public reports of 

the proceedings.

PanAero, Inc.

PanAero, Inc. is a Chantilly, Virginia-based firm

that has developed numerous two-stage-to-orbit

vehicle concepts, including the Condor-X rocket

glider. It features a fuselage mounted in front of a

large wing that supports eight rocket pods for

propulsion. The flight profile calls for a horizontal

takeoff followed by a slow climb to 35 kilometers

(22 miles) at a speed of 370 kilometers per hour

(226 miles per hour). This slow cruise through the

densest layer of the atmosphere is needed to prevent air pressure from damaging the fabric-covered

aluminum structure. Once at that altitude, the vehicle

pitches up for a near-vertical climb through 70 kilometers (43 miles), after which the rocket engines

are shut down. 

After burnout, the Condor-X continues on a

parabolic trajectory with a 100-kilometer (62-mile)

apogee. Its large wing design serves as a speed

brake and parachute during reentry to slow the

vehicle down. The cabin is lowered by cables

beneath the wing to enable the structure to act like

a parachute for part of the descent profile, until the

vehicle falls to an altitude of 6,000 meters (20,000

feet). Following this, the cabin retracts, and a glider

landing brings the vehicle back to Earth at the original takeoff airstrip.

Len Cormier, a former naval aviator and engineer, leads the four-member team. If the Condor-X

design is successful, the company will then focus

Launch Company Profiles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

20 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Launch Company Profiles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 21

on payload-carrying suborbital missions in order to

fund further activities. Serving space tourists is

viewed as a tertiary goal for the company’s new

vehicle. Little information is available about the

Condor X development status beyond the concept

definition stage.

Development of the Condor-X concept 

has continued past the awarding of the X Prize.

PanAero seeks to convert the design into a scaleddown aircraft with an extremely low wing loading.

The new vehicle is intended to: set altitude records

for rocket-propelled aircraft; launch a one-ton rocket from 35 kilometers (22 miles) capable of placing

20-kilogram (44-pound) payloads into orbit for

$100,000 a flight; and perform other high-altitude

long-duration missions at a lower cost than existing

aircraft.17

Rocketplane Ltd.

Rocketplane Ltd.,

formerly known as

Pioneer Rocketplane,

is proceeding with

the development of

its Rocketplane XP

suborbital vehicle.

The Rocketplane XP traces its heritage to an early

1990s Air Force spaceplane concept called Black

Horse. Pioneer Rocketplane developed a derivative

design that it called Pathfinder that has since evolved

into the Rocketplane XP vehicle. The Rocketplane

XP is powered by two conventional jet engines and

a single 133,440-newton (30,000-pounds-force) 

liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine developed by

ORBITEC. The 8,165-kilogram (18,000-pound) XP

will take off under jet power from an airport and

climb to about 6096 meter (20,000 feet), and then

ignite its rocket engine for a two-minute burn. The

vehicle flies a ballistic trajectory to an altitude of

over 100 kilometers (62 miles). After reentry the

Rocketplane XP reignites its jet engines for a 

runway landing.

Rocketplane Ltd. moved its offices from

California to Oklahoma in 2004, opening offices in

Oklahoma City. The company has raised over $30

million and qualified for investment tax credits

from the State of Oklahoma in January 2004.

George French is president of Rocketplane, while

company co-founder Mitchell Burnside Clapp was

named Director of Flight Systems at the company

in August 2004. The company plans to begin 

commercial flights of the XP from the Oklahoma

Spaceport in Burns Flat, Oklahoma, by January

2007. In October 2004 the company announced 

it had entered into a partnership with Incredible

Adventures, of Sarasota, Florida, to market tourist

flights on the XP once it enters service. The 

passenger price will be $99,500.

Scaled Composites

Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, has long

been recognized as a creator of revolutionary 

aircraft. They are the developers of the Voyager aircraft that became the first to fly around the world

nonstop without refueling. The company with 

sponsorship from computer magnate, Paul Allen

recently completed privately funded human space

efforts with its Tier One program.

Tier One consists of two vehicles: a carrier

aircraft called White Knight and a rocketplane

named SpaceShipOne. White Knight is a jet aircraft

powered by two J-85-GE-5 engines that generate

34,250 newtons (7,700 pounds-force) of thrust.

White Knight features a 25-meter (82-foot) wing

with the fuselage mounted at the top of an anhedral.

Equally-spaced twin booms serve as both landing

gear and tail assemblies. SpaceShipOne is mounted

externally below the fuselage.

SpaceShipOne is carried aloft by White Knight

to an altitude of about 15,240 meters (50,000 feet), a

journey that takes about one hour from takeoff. At

that point SpaceShipOne detaches from White

Knight and fires its single rocket engine. The Space

Dev-developed engine is a hybrid rocket motor

using hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB),

and nitrous oxidizer. The engine burns for up to 90
seconds, propelling the vehicle to a maximum 

altitude of over 100 kilometers (62 miles) and

speeds in excess of Mach 3.

SpaceShipOne’s wing employs variable

geometry to a safe or “carefree” descent. After

apogee, the rear of the wing tilts up at a 60-degree

angle into a “feather” position. This high-drag 

attitude permits the craft to descend in a stable 

configuration, requiring little effort by the pilot to

maintain. Once below 24,384 meters (80,000 feet),

the wing reverts to its original position for the

unpowered drop back to the originating runway.

Since the public unveiling of the Tier One

program in April 2003, Scaled Composites has put

both vehicles through an extensive flight program

at Mojave Airport, California. Captive carry flights,

where SpaceShipOne remained attached to White

Knight, started in May 2003, with glide tests of

SpaceShipOne beginning in August. On December

17, 2003, SpaceShipOne performed its first powered flight, igniting its engine for 15 seconds,

reaching Mach 1.2 and 20,665 meters (67,800 feet)

altitude. Scaled conducted two more powered test

flights on April 8 and May 13, 2004, flying up to

Mach 2.5 and 64,435 meters (211,400 feet) on the

May flight.

On June 21, 2004, SpaceShipOne performed

its fourth powered test flight and its first attempt to

break the 100-kilometer (62-mile) boundary of

space. A roll oscillation shortly after engine ignition

and a trim control malfunction late in the powered

portion of the flight caused a trajectory excursion 

of approximately 30 kilometers (19 miles). That

excursion kept the vehicle from achieving its

planned maximum altitude of nearly 110 kilometers

(68 miles), but it did make it to 100,124 meters

(328,491 feet), just above the 100-kilometer (62-

mile) mark. For that achievement the FAA awarded

pilot Mike Melvill the first-ever pair of commercial

astronaut wings.

On July 27, 2004 Scaled Composites formally

announced its intent to perform the two flights

required to win the Ansari X Prize, with the first

scheduled for September 29, 2004. On that flight,

also flown by Melvill, SpaceShipOne avoided the

trajectory excursion experienced in June, but did go

into a roll near the end of the powered portion of

the flight. Despite the roll the vehicle reached an

altitude of 102,870 meters (337,500 feet) and glided

back to a safe landing. The flight was officially 

certified by the Ansari X Prize judging team as a

successful first X Prize attempt flight dubbed X1. 

On October 4 SpaceShipOne flew its second

Ansari X Prize flight, X2, with Brian Binnie piloting the spacecraft. The vehicle avoided the rolls

experienced during the previous flight and easily

broke the 100-kilometer milestone, reaching a peak

altitude of 112,000 meters (367,442 feet) before

gliding back to a successful landing at Mojave

Airport. The prize judging team certified this a 

successful flight the same day and declared

SpaceShipOne the winner of the prize.

Scaled Composites entered the history books

in April 2004 when it received the world’s first

license for a reusable, suborbital, piloted launch

vehicle from the FAA. The license, LRLS 04-067,

became effective on April 1, 2004. The license 

covers SpaceShipOne launch activities from

Mojave Airport and remains in effect for one year.

The Tier One effort has been financially supported exclusively by Paul Allen, a billionaire who

co-founded software company Microsoft. Allen and

Scaled Composites CEO Burt Rutan formed a joint

venture called Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV)

that owns the intellectual property of the Tier One

program. On September 27, 2004, MAV signed an

agreement to license that technology to Virgin

Group, a British conglomerate run by Sir Richard

Branson. Virgin has created a new subsidiary,

Virgin Galactic, which plans to contract with Scaled

Composites to build suborbital vehicles based on

SpaceShipOne, but with the ability to carry up to

five passengers. The first of those vehicles, dubbed

Virgin SpaceShip (VSS) Enterprise, is expected to

enter service in 2007.

In November 2004 Mojave Aerospace

Ventures was presented with a check for $10 million and a trophy for capturing the Ansari X Prize

in a ceremony at the St. Louis Science Center in St.

Louis, Missouri.

Launch Company Profiles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

22 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Space Transport Corporation

Space Transport

Corporation (STC),

located in Forks,

Washington, entered the

Ansari X Prize competition in December

2003. The company

plans to develop the

Rubicon Space Tourism

Vehicle, which, unlike

most other vehicles of

competing teams, uses

solid-propellant motors.

Its initial design incorporates a cluster of

seven, 30-centimeter

(12-inch) diameter, 3-meter (10-foot) long solid

rocket motors capped by a cylinder and nose cone

assembly that will contain the crew compartment,

avionics, and recovery system. Overall, the vehicle

will be about 7 meters (23 feet) tall, 97 centimeters

(38 inches) in diameter, and weigh 2,494 kilograms

(5,500 pounds) at takeoff.18

Launch will occur from a location near 

the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula in

Washington State. The motors will ignite sequentially in opposed pairs, with the central engine igniting

last. The Rubicon will then follow a computerguided parabolic flight path to reach suborbit. A

parachute recovery system will be used to slow the

vehicle down enough to permit a safe ocean landing.

Total flight time is expected to be about 25 minutes.

The Rubicon will use GPS to advise the recovery

vessels of its location. Following extraction, STC

plans to refurbish the vehicle’s motor casings for up

to five launches before they are discarded.

The firm’s two founders and sole employees,

Eric Meier and Phillip Storm, began testing components for their Rubicon Space Tourism Vehicle in

2002. A number of volunteers work on the project,

which has been supported by local businesses.

Although STC plans to initially focus on the suborbital tourist market, the company is also looking to

the small payload market as a potential revenue

source for its long-term endeavors, and is designing

an unmanned launch vehicle called the NanoSatellite Orbital Launch Vehicle (N-SOLV). 

The STC team is currently involved in testing

and production of components for their vehicle. 

It states that development of the Rubicon’s attitude

control system and associated inertial sensing systems is complete and that the systems are ready for

installation. In March 2004, STC conducted a successful test firing of its full-scale solid rocket motor.

STC conducted an unsuccessful test flight of a

scaled-down version of the Rubicon in August 2004.

The vehicle exploded shortly after leaving the

launch pad due to a rupture of one of its solid 

rocket motors.

SpaceDev

SpaceDev, a company that has established itself in

the small satellite and propulsion fields, has recently signaled its intent to enter the commercial suborbital vehicle market as well. In September 2004 the

company announced plans to develop Dream

Chaser, a SRLV. The vehicle, superficially similar

in shape to NASA’s cancelled X-34 vehicle, is a

winged vehicle that will take off vertically using a

single hybrid rocket motor. The motor, using HTPB

and nitrous oxide, will generate 444,800 newtons

(100,000 pounds-force) of thrust. The vehicle, capable of carrying several passengers, will fly to 160

kilometers (100 miles) altitude before gliding back

to a runway landing.

SpaceDev, based in Poway, California, and

run by company founder Jim Benson, has already

developed a number of smaller hybrid rocket

motors based on intellectual property from the

defunct American Rocket Company (AMROC). In

September 2003 SpaceDev won a contract from

Scaled Composites to provide the hybrid rocket

motors for the Tier One program. SpaceDev plans

to have the Dream Chaser enter service as soon as

2008 if the program is fully funded. 

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Launch Company Profiles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 23
TGV Rockets

TGV Rockets, of

Norman, Oklahoma, is

actively developing a

suborbital vehicle

called MICHELLE-B.

MICHELLE (an

acronym for Modular

Incremental Compact

High Energy Low-cost

Launch Experiment),

will be 15 meters (48

feet) tall and weigh 38,556 kilograms (85,000

pounds). The vehicle will use six pressure-fed liquid oxygen and kerosene engines, each capable of

generating 133,440 newtons (30,000 pounds-force)

of thrust. MICHELLE-B’s flight profile calls for a

vertical launch to an altitude of over 100 kilometers

(62 miles) followed by a vertical descent with the

assistance of a drag augmentation system involving

drag panels deployed from the sides of the vehicle.

The engines are used later for landing after the

vehicle has descended below 3,000 meters (10,000

feet). Passengers in the pressurized cabin should

expect to experience over 3 minutes of microgravity and no more than 4.6 gs during the flight; they

will experience only 30 seconds over 3 gs as the

vehicle descends. Unlike some other vertical takeoff, vertical landing SRLV designs, the

MICHELLE-B will be actively piloted during its

descent. TGV believes that manual control will

improve the system’s reliability and shorten the

vehicle’s development cycle.

TGV moved from Maryland to Oklahoma in

2003 and has a working relationship with the

University of Oklahoma, involving sponsored

research for several students and professors. TGV

expects to spend about $50 million building the

MICHELLE-B SRLV - approximately the same

amount spent to build the DC-X a decade ago.

MICHELLE-B served as TGV’s entry in the Ansari

X Prize competition, but the vehicle is primarily

intended to serve science and technology customers. The company anticipates initiating a 

flight-testing program by late 2007 followed by its 

proposed revenue service if all goes as planned.19

Vanguard Spacecraft

Vanguard Spacecraft entered the

Ansari X Prize competition in May

2003 with its vehicle, Eagle. The

Eagle uses a three-stage combination

of twelve liquid engines and four solid

rocket motors, with a total thrust of

1.78 million newtons (400,000

pounds-force), to boost the vehicle 

to an altitude of 100 kilometers (62

miles). It has both drogue and main

parachutes that deploy to slow the

vehicle prior to splashdown. The vehicle will be 

able to transport three passengers or 270 kilograms 

(595 pounds) of payload while exerting a maximum

of 3 g of acceleration force during the trip. The ballistic flight profile will also offer up to five minutes

of microgravity.

Steve McGrath, of Bridgewater, Massachusetts,

leads the six-person team, primarily drawn from the

high-power amateur rocketry community. The team

has performed a number of small-scale model

launches to date, but has made limited public

progress on the actual vehicle.

XCOR Aerospace

XCOR Aerospace of Mojave, California seeks to

develop rocket-powered aerospace vehicles to bring

space closer to the public. The company was 

founded in November 1999 with a small group of

employees, many of whom previously worked for

Rotary Rocket Company. Its primary focus has

been engine development, and has built and tested

engines with thrust ratings ranging from 67 to

8,000 newtons (15 to 1,800 pounds-force).

Launch Company Profiles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

24 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Launch Company Profiles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 25

XCOR is taking an incremental approach to

its reusable suborbital vehicle. To understand rocket-propelled aircraft operations, it initially created

the EZ-Rocket. The EZ-Rocket is an adaptation of

the Long-EZ homebuilt aircraft. The EZ-Rocket

employs twin isopropyl alcohol/LOX liquid-fuel

rocket engines to produce 3,560 newtons (800

pounds-force) of thrust. The engines give the craft a

maximum speed of 360 kilometers per hour (220

miles per hour). The estimated ceiling is 3,000

meters (10,000 feet). To date, the aircraft has been

flown fifteen times, demonstrating safe, reliable

rocket-powered flight operations.

The long-term goal of the firm is the creation

of its general-purpose suborbital vehicle called

Xerus. This small canard and delta-winged craft is

expected to carry space tourists and scientific payloads to the edge of space and back. Maximum

speeds are foreseen to be around Mach 4. The 

vehicle will use a cluster of liquid oxygen/kerosene

engines to take off from a runway and fly to 65

kilometers (40 miles) altitude, after which the

engines shut down. Xerus then coasts to 100 

kilometers (62 miles) altitude before gliding 

back for a runway landing.

XCOR foresees several markets for the Xerus.

The vehicle can carry a pilot and single passenger

on space tourism missions, or a pilot and scientific

payloads that need to experience microgravity or

extreme altitudes. Additionally, the Xerus will 

constitute the first stage of a future microsatellite 

delivery system. XCOR plans to offer launches of

10-kilogram (22-pound) satellites for $500,000. 

An intermediate vehicle called the Sphinx is

also currently in development. Specific performance details are currently not available. A crew of

two will control the vehicle, which is intended to

operate somewhere between the performance of 

EZ Rocket and Xerus to demonstrate XCOR’s 

versatility in launch vehicle technology.

On April 21, 2004, XCOR received an FAA

launch license, the second ever awarded. The

license, LRLS 04-068, covers 35 missions of the

Sphinx vehicle, a technology demonstrator for the

Xerus, at Mojave Airport through the end of 2006.

The license does not cover passenger or other 

revenue flights until after the initial test flights 

are completed.
Launch Company Profiles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

26 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

Company Vehicle Name Vehicle Type Takeoff Recovery/Landing

Acceleration 

Engineering Lucky Seven Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Parafoil/Land

Advent Launch 

Services Advent Liquid Fuel Winged Rocket Vertical/Water Glide/Water

American Astronautics The Spirit of 

Liberty Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Parachute/Land

Armadillo Aerospace Black Armadillo Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Powered 

Descent/Land

Beyond-Earth 

Enterprises Sapphire Solid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Parachute/Land

Blue Origin Not Announced Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Powered 

Descent/Land

Fundamental 

Technology Systems Aurora Liquid Fuel Rocket Spaceplane Horizontal / Land Glide/Land

High Altitude Research 

Corporation Liberator Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Water Platform Parachute/Water

Masten Space 

Systems XA Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Powered Descent/Land

Micro-Space Crusader X Bipod Rocket Sled Vertical/Land Parafoil/Water

PanAero Condo- X Multi-pod Rocket 

Glider Horizontal/Land Glide/Land

Rocketplane Limited Rocketplane XP Liquid Fuel Rocket/ 

Jet Spaceplane Horizontal/Land Horizontal/Land

Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne/ 

White Knight

Two Stage Aircraft, 

Rocket Horizontal/Land Glide/Land

Space Transport 

Corporation Rubicon Solid Fuel Rocket Vertical Parachute/Water

SpaceDev Dream Chaser Hybrid Engine 

Spaceplane Vertical/Land Glide/Land

TGV Rockets MICHELLE-B Liquid Fuel Rocket Vertical/Land Powered 

Descent/Land

Vanguard Spacecraft Eagle Three Stage Rocket Vertical/Land Parachute/Water

XCOR Aerospace Xerus Liquid Fuel Rocket 

Spaceplane Horizontal/Land Glide/Land

Table 2: U.S. Commercial Suborbital Vehicles
Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 27

Incredible Adventures

Incredible Adventures (IA) of Sarasota, Florida

and Moscow, Russia has been catering to thrill seekers since 1993. The company started under the name

MIGS etc, and introduced the concept of tourist

flights aboard Russian MiG fighter jets. Over the

years IA has expanded its business to include spacerelated adventures like zero-gravity flights using

Russian IL-76 aircraft, cosmonaut training at Star

City, Russia and high-altitude flights aboard MiG-25

fighter jets. In 1996, controlling interest in the company was sold to Norman Fast, a venture capitalist

with experience in the adventure travel industry. In

addition to Florida and Moscow, IA offers flying

adventures in Australia and South Africa.

Incredible Adventures offers a diversified tour

catalog. Customers can book adventure vacations

featuring rides on high performance jet aircraft, historic war aircraft, racecars, high-speed power boats,

military armored vehicles and submersibles. IA also

offers a variety of fantasy military missions, bodyguard training, high-altitude skydiving, and shark

diving experiences. 

Incredible Adventures recently added suborbital flights to its offerings. IA has partnered with

Rocketplane Ltd. to offer flights to 100 km aboard

the Rocketplane XP. Flights are scheduled to begin

launching from a spaceport in Oklahoma in early

2007. The adventure, referred to as Civilian

Astronaut Spaceflight Training, is anticipated 

to be priced at $99,500.20

Space Adventures

Established in 1998, Space Adventures Ltd,

headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has the distinction of being the first provider of orbital trips to

space. At a price reported to be about $20 million,

Dennis Tito became the first commercial space passenger in April 2001with his 10-day orbital flight to

the International Space Station (ISS), via the Russian

Soyuz rocket. Tito was followed by Mark

Shuttleworth the following April. A third orbital

client, Gregory Olsen, commenced training in 2004

but has been temporarily removed from Soyuz flight

status, pending resolution of a medical issue.

Additional orbital candidates are in various stages 

of discussions or preparations for orbital flight.

Space Adventures expects to offer suborbital

flights by the 2007 timeframe. As with orbital space

tourist flights, the company is positioned to serve as

the tour operator and/or broker between crewed suborbital launch vehicle vendors and space travelers.

Space Adventures has arrangements with several of

the Ansari X Prize competitors and other start-up

developers for transporting passengers. The Xerus

spacecraft from XCOR Aerospace and Suborbital

Corporation’s C 21, a mini-shuttle design SOV vehicle under development by Russian Myashishchev

Design Bureau; Burt Rutan’s Ansari X-Prize winnerSpaceShipOne ; and Rocketplanes hybrid rocketpowered aircraft design are some of the possible suborbital vehicles now featured in Space Adventures

company publications. Currently, Space Adventures

says that it will offer its flights for fares around

$100,000, and has received deposits from over 

100 potential customers.21

Virgin Galactic 

Even before it won the Ansari X Prize, the

efforts of Mojave Aerospace Ventures had begun 

to attract more investment in space tourism. On

September 27, 2004, MAV signed a $26-million

agreement to license their SRLV technology to

Virgin Group, a British conglomerate run by Sir

Richard Branson. Virgin has created a new subsidiary, Virgin Galactic, which plans to contract

with Scaled Composites to build suborbital vehicles

based on SpaceShipOne, but with the ability to

carry at least five passengers.22 The first of those

vehicles, dubbed Virgin SpaceShip (VSS)

Enterprise, is expected to enter service in 2007.

While the vehicle is under development,

Virgin Galactic is proceeding with its marketing

plans. The company expects to begin taking

deposits on reservations in 2005. An initial price

point espoused by the company is $215,000 for

three days of flight training followed by a flight to

suborbital space.

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Space Tourism Company Profiles

Space Tourism Company Profiles
Tourism Company Profiles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

28 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Launch and reentry sites – often referred to as

“spaceports” – are the nation’s gateways to and

from space. Although their individual capabilities

vary, these facilities provide launch pads and runways as well as the infrastructure, equipment, and

fuel needed to process launch vehicles and their

payloads prior to launch. The first such facilities in

the United States emerged in the 1940s, when the

federal government began to build and operate

space launch ranges and bases to meet a variety of

national needs. While U.S. military and civil government agencies were the original and are still 

the primary users and operators of these facilities, 

commercial payload customers have become 

frequent users of federal spaceports as well.

Federal facilities are not the only portals to

and from space. The commercial dimension of U.S.

space activity is evident not only in the numbers of

commercially-procured launches but also in the

presence of non-federal launch sites supplementing

federally-operated sites. FAA/AST has licensed the

operations of five non-federal launch sites. These

spaceports serve both commercial and government

payload owners.

This section describes the non-federal domestic spaceports capable of supporting reusable suborbital launch and landing activities. Descriptions and

histories for Mojave, Oklahoma, New Mexico,

Mid-Atlantic Regional and Texas spaceports are

included. 

FAA Licensed Spaceports

While the majority of licensed launch activity still

occurs at U.S. federal ranges, much future launch

and reentry activity may originate from private or

state-operated spaceports. In order for a non-federal

entity to operate a launch or reentry site in the United

States, it is necessary to obtain a license from the

federal government through FAA/AST. To date,

FAA/AST has licensed the operations of five nonfederal launch sites, two of which are described in

this section. Three spaceports are co-located with

federal launch sites, including the California

Spaceport at Vandenberg AFB, California, the

spaceport facilities operated by Florida Space

Authority (FSA) at Cape Canaveral, and MidAtlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at Wallops

Flight Facility, Virginia. The fourth licensed, nonfederal spaceport is Kodiak Launch Complex in

Alaska.23 East Kern Airport District of Mojave,

California, was awarded the fifth non-federal launch

site operators license in June of 2004. It is also the

first inland launch siteto receive a license.

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

The Virginia Space Flight Center (VSFC)

traces its beginnings to the Center for Commercial

Space Infrastructure, created in 1992 at Virginia’s

Old Dominion University to establish commercial

space research and operations facilities in the state.

In 1995, the organization became the Virginia

Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA). 

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Spaceports

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 29

State/

Location Federal Non-Federal Proposed

Alabama √

Alaska √

California 

(Vandenberg AFB) √ √

Florida √ √

Mojave Airport, CA √

Nevada √

New Mexico √ √

Oklahoma √

Texas √

Utah √

Virginia √ √

Washington √

Wisconsin √

Spaceports

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport

Table 3: U.S. Spaceports
Spaceports Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

30 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

In late 2003, the states of Virginia and Maryland

joined together to cooperatively operate the commercial spaceport at Wallops Island. Following this

new partnership, the spaceport was renamed the

Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS).

On December 19, 1997, FAA/AST issued

VCSFA a launch site operator’s license for the VSFC.

This license was renewed in December 2002 for

another five years. In 1997, VCSFA signed with

NASA a Reimbursable Space Act Agreement to use

the Wallops center’s facilities in support of commercial launches. This 30-year agreement allows VCSFA

access to NASA’s payload integration, launch operations, and monitoring facilities on a non-interference,

cost reimbursement basis. NASA and VSFC 

personnel work together to provide launch services.

MARS owns two launch pads at Wallops.

Launch Pad 0-B is capable of supporting a variety

of small- and medium-sized expendable launch

vehicles (ELV) with gross liftoff weights of up to

225,000 kilograms (496,000 pounds) that can place

up to 4,500 kilograms (9,900 pounds) into LEO. 

In September 2004, MARS completed construction

of a 31-meter (103-foot) tall Movable Service

Structure (MSS) on Launch Pad 0-B. The MSS provides access and protection from the environment

for launch vehicles while they are on the launch

pad. The site also includes a complete command,

control, and communications interface with the

launch range. An Air Force Orbital/Suborbital

Program (OSP) Minotaur mission is currently

scheduled for this site.24

In March 2000, VSFC acquired a second

launch pad from EER Systems of Maryland.

Launch Pad 0-A was built in 1994 for the

Conestoga launch vehicle, which launched once in

October 1995. VSFC started refurbishing Launch

Pad 0-A and its 25-meter (82-foot) service tower in

June 2000. Launch Pad 0-A will support launches

of small ELVs with gross liftoff weights of up to

90,000 kilograms (198,000 pounds) and that are

capable of placing up to 1,350 kilograms (3,000

pounds) into LEO. Launch Pad 0-A can support a

number of small solid-propellant boosters, including the Athena 1, Minotaur, and Taurus. Launch

Pad 0-B can support larger vehicles, including the

Athena 2. MARS also has an interest in supporting

future RLVs, possibly using its launch pads or three

runways at Wallops Flight Facility.

NASA is in the process of constructing a 

$4-million logistics and processing facility at the

Wallops facility, capable of handling payloads of up

to 5,700 kilograms (12,600 pounds). MARS assisted in developing the facility requirements and will

be working with tenants and programs in the facility.25 Phase 1 of construction is nearing completion.

The facility will include high bay and clean room

environments. In conjunction with NASA Wallops,

MARS is adding a new mobile Liquid Fueling

Facility (LFF) capable of supporting a wide range

of liquid-fueled and hybrid rockets. Construction of

the LFF is currently in final integration phase.26

Mojave Civilian Flight Test Center

The East Kern County, California, government established Mojave Airport in 1935 in

Mojave, California. The airport is owned and 

operated by the East Kern Airport District, which is

a special district with an elected Board of Directors

and a General Manager. The airport serves as a

Civilian Flight Test Center, the location of the

National Test Pilot School (NTPS), and as a base

for modifications of major military jets and 

civilian aircraft.

Major facilities at the Mojave Airport include

the terminal and industrial area, hangars, offices,

maintenance shop, and fuel services facilities.

Rocket engine test stands are located in the northMojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets Spaceports

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 31

ern portion of the airport. Aircraft parking capacity

includes 600 tie downs and 60 T-hangars. The

Mojave Airport also includes aircraft storage and a

reconditioning facility and is home to several industrial operations, such as BAE Systems, Fiberset,

Scaled Composites, AVTEL, XCOR Aerospace,

Orbital Sciences Corporation, Interorbital Systems,

and General Electric. The Civilian Flight Test

Center consists of several test stands, an air control

tower, a rocket test stand, engineering facilities, and

a high bay building.

In the last two years, XCOR Aerospace has

been performing flight tests at this facility and

recently had multiple successful tests with the EZRocket. On the 100th anniversary of the Wright

Brothers’ first powered flight, December 17, 2003,

Scaled Composites flew its SpaceShipOne from

Mojave, breaking the speed of sound in the first

manned supersonic flight by an aircraft developed

by a small company’s private, non-governmental

effort.

A major development milestone was reached

June 17, 2004, when the FAA/AST awarded a

launch site operator license to the East Kern Airport

District. This license permits suborbital space

flights to be conducted from Mojave Airport. The

site license was not a requirement for launches of

SpaceShipOne because the vehicle is air-launched;

but is required for XCOR Aerospace RLV missions

that are FAA-licensed. 

The international news media descended on

Mojave Airport for the first privately built manned

spaceship to break the barrier of space in June 2004

by Scaled Composites and then again in late

September and early October 2004 when Mojave

Aerospace Ventures won the Ansari X Prize with

two flights of SpaceShipOne. 

Proposed Spaceports Seeking an FAA

License

Oklahoma Spaceport

The State of Oklahoma is interested in 

developing a broader space industrial base and a

spaceport. In 1999 the Oklahoma State Legislature

created the Oklahoma Space Industry Development

Authority (OSIDA). OSIDA promotes the development of spaceport facilities, space exploration,

space education, and space-related industries in

Oklahoma. In 2000, the state legislature passed an

economic incentive law offering tax credits, tax

exemptions, and accelerated depreciation rates for

commercial spaceport-related activities. In 2002,

OSIDA awarded a contract to SRS Technologies to

conduct an environmental impact study. The study,

expected to continue through Summer 2005,27 is a

critical step toward receiving a launch site operator’s license from FAA/AST. In the fall of 2003,

OSIDA took another step toward receiving its

license by awarding a contract to The Aerospace

Corporation to conduct a safety study of the proposed site and operations.

Clinton-Sherman Industrial Airpark, located at

Burns Flat, is the preferred site for a future spaceport in Oklahoma. Existing infrastructure includes a

4,100-meter (13,500-foot) runway, a large maintenance and repair hangar, utilities, a rail spur, and 

12 square kilometers (5 square miles) of open land.

The Oklahoma Spaceport will provide launch and

support services for RLVs and may become operaBurns Flat, Proposed Site of the Oklahoma Spaceport
Spaceports Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

32 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

tional in late 2006 or early 2007, becoming one of

the first inland launch sites in the United States.

The State of Oklahoma offers several incentives,

valued at over $128 million over 10 years, to attract

space companies to the state. Also, the state will

provide a $15-million tax credit to the first corporation that meets specific qualifying criteria, including equity capitalization of $10 million and the 

creation of at least 100 Oklahoma jobs. Some

organizations also may qualify for other state tax

credits, tax refunds, tax exemptions, and training

incentives. OSIDA has signed Memoranda of

Understanding with several companies for use of

the Burns Flat site.

Southwest Regional Spaceport

The State of New Mexico continues to make

progress in the development of the Southwest

Regional Spaceport (SRS). The proposed site of the

spaceport is a 70-square-kilometer (27-square-mile)

parcel of open land in the south central part of the

state at approximately 1,430 meters (4,700 feet)

above sea level. The spaceport concept is to support

all classes of RLVs serving suborbital trajectories

as well as equatorial, polar, and ISS orbits, and to

provide support services for payload integration,

launch, and landing. The facility will be able to

accommodate both vertical and horizontal launches

and landings, and will include two launch complexes, a runway, an aviation complex, a payload

assembly complex, other support facilities, and a

cryogenic fuel plant. The SRS is supported by the

state through the New Mexico Office for Space

Commercialization, part of the New Mexico

Economic Development Department. New Mexico

was selected to host the X Prize Cup in May 2004.

The X Prize Cup Exhibition is scheduled for

October 2005 at White Sands Missile Range

(WSMR) and the X Prize Cup First Flight competitions are scheduled for October 2006 at WSMR.

Starchaser, a former X Prize contender based

in the United Kingdom, has established a U.S. company and is also interested in launching from New

Mexico. Starchaser Industries Incorporated, the

American branch of Starchaser Industries, hopes to

offer microsatellite launches and eventually space

tourism from SRS beginning as early as 2006.

Texas Spaceports

Although several spaceports are currently

being planned in the state of Texas, none have

announced plans to accommodate SRLVs.

However, Armadillo Aerospace does use a site in

Rockwall County, Texas for short developmental

“boosted hops” of their vehicle.28 Armadillo plans

to move testing to SRS once they earn a FAA

launch license and are permitted to conduct engine

firings longer than 15 seconds. Details on the

development of the other Texan spaceports, 

such as the West Texas Spaceport, can be found 

in the FAA's 2005 U.S. Commercial Space

Transportation Developments and Concepts:

Vehicles, Technologies and Spaceports report, 

available from http://ast.faa.gov.
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 33

Historically, suborbital ELVs have been used to

carry experiments designed to sample or otherwise

measure the upper atmosphere and its behaviors,

test new technologies related to spaceflight, and

conduct astronomical observations. Suborbital

ELVs also include intercontinental ballistic missiles

(ICBMs), some intermediate range ballistic missiles

(IRBMs), and anti-missile targets and interceptors.

The remainder of this section describes 

the evolution of nine different suborbital vehicles

developed, tested, and launched between the early

1940s and the present.

The WAC-Corporal (1944-1950)

The Army pursued a rocket

program during World War

II that eventually led to a

suborbital rocket called

WAC. It is not clear what

the term “WAC” means,

though some have suggested that it was an acronym

for “Without Attitude

Control,” referring to the

fact that the simple rocket

had no stabilization or

guidance system. In 1944,

the Army Ordnance

Department began funding a rocket development

program for the California Institute of Technology

(CIT). The ORDCIT (for “Ordnance” and CIT) project’s first product was the Private A, a small solidpropellant rocket designed to test basic principles of

launch operations and flight stability. Over twenty

Private A rockets were flown during December

1944. The ultimate goal of ORDCIT was the 

development of the Corporal, a liquid-fueled 

surface-to-surface missile. By late 1944, enough

progress had been made to initiate the development

of a small sounding rocket based on Corporal.

The planned sounding rocket was called

WAC-Corporal, and was to carry 11 kilograms (25

pounds) of instrumentation to an altitude of at least

30 kilometers (100,000 feet). The WAC-Corporal

was boosted into the air by a Tiny Tim solid-fueled

booster (a heavy air-to-surface missile of the 

U.S. Navy), and powered by a liquid-fueled 

sustainer engine.

Following preliminary booster tests with 

subscale and dummy WACs, the first flight of a 

full WAC-Corporal occurred in October 1945. It

reached an altitude of 70 kilometers (43 miles), 

but the nose-cone recovery mechanism failed.

After the initial WAC-Corporal rounds had

been expended in 1946, a slightly improved WAC

B model was built. This rocket had a lighter engine,

a modified structure, and a new telemetry system.

Between December 1946 and mid-1947, eight WAC

B rockets were launched, after which the WACCorporal program was terminated. Although it was

soon overshadowed as a high-altitude research

rocket by the V-2, the WAC-Corporal formed the

base for the development of a more capable and

useful general-purpose sounding rocket, the RTVN-8 Aerobee. Slightly modified WAC Corporal

rockets were also used as the second stage of the

RTV-G-4 Bumper test vehicle.

The WAC-Corporal was the first American

rocket to escape the Earth’s atmosphere and would

lead to the Aerobee sounding rocket, the Vanguard

launch vehicle, the Titan missile, and (according to

some experts) the Chinese Long March family.

The V-2 (1945-1952)

Operation Paperclip was initiated in 1945 by the United States

military. American (and Soviet)

forces recruited German engineers and scientists responsible

for the development and launch

of rocket-propelled vehicles for

the Nazi army at the conclusion

of World War II. The U.S.

Government recognized that the

V-2 represented a giant leap in

technology, and set up Operation Paperclip to

acquire rocket engineers, rocket components, and

any other form of technology deemed critical to

American national security.

Appendix: A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles
A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

34 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation

Using about a hundred acquired V-2s, thousands of components, and a few hundred German

engineers and scientists, the Americans succeeded

in learning about advanced rocket technology. The

V-2s launched by the United States Army from

White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during

the 1940s were modified and improved with each

flight. Early V-2 launches included telemetry 

packages, but it became clear that the V-2s could

also carry scientific payloads. It was not known

until much later that the Germans had already

launched scientific experiments with even earlier

versions of the rocket during World War II.

In 1946, the Naval Research Laboratory

(NRL) was invited to participate in the Army’s V-2

rocket program. As an established group ready to

carry out upper atmospheric research, the NRL

became the prime agency for conducting research

with the V-2 program and for developing the technology to carry out the missions. Eighty experiments were performed between 1946 and 1951. As

a result, new and valuable information was gained

about the nature of the Earth’s upper atmosphere

and ionosphere. 

The Bumper-WAC (1948-1952)

The Army also merged eight 

V-2s with the WAC-Corporal to

support “Project Hermes,” a

research effort conducted

between 1948 and 1952. This

project aimed to study technical

problems associated with rocket

stage separation, high altitude

flight dynamics and high altitude rocket stage ignition. The

WAC-Corporal’s liquid-fueled

stage was simply mounted on

the nose of the V-2 to create the

Bumper-WAC. The WAC-Corporal second stage

remained atop the nose of the V-2 for the first

minute of flight. The V-2 then shut down, after 

providing a high altitude “bump” for the WACCorporal second stage. Following the first stage

shutdown, the WAC-Corporal second stage ignited

and fired for 45 seconds, completing the remainder

of the flight.

The first six Bumper-WAC rockets were

launched from White Sands. The first of these was

launched on May 13, 1948. The vehicle flew to an

altitude of 129 kilometers (80 miles) at a maximum

speed of 4,410 kilometers per hour (2,740 miles per

hour). Five more test flights were conducted at

White Sands with mixed results. Bumper #5,

launched on February 24, 1949, was the most 

successful launch test in the White Sands BumperWAC series and marked the first time a man-made

object reached space. In 1950, Bumper-WAC tests

moved to Cape Canaveral. 

The Viking (1946-1957)

Meanwhile, recognizing that it

had run out of V-2s to use for

research projects, the NRL

directed the development of a

new sounding rocket called

Viking, which was designed and

built by the Glenn L. Martin

Company in 1946. Viking

employed a new innovation, a

gimbaled motor for steering and

intermittent gas jets for stabilizing the vehicle after the main power cutoff. The

engine was one of the first three large, liquid-propelled, rocket-powered engines produced in the

United States. A total of twelve Viking rockets were

launched from 1949 to 1954. The first attained an

80-kilometer (50-mile) altitude and the eleventh

Viking rose to 254 kilometers (158 miles), an altitude record for a single-stage rocket at the time.

Through these Viking firings, the NRL was first to

measure temperature, pressure, and winds in the

upper atmosphere and electron density in the ionosphere, and to record the ultraviolet spectra of the

sun. NRL also took the first high-altitude pictures

of the Earth.

On October 5, 1954, during a launch over

New Mexico, a camera mounted in an NRL Viking

rocket took the first picture of a hurricane and a

tropical storm, from altitudes as high as 160 kilometers (100 miles). The picture covered an area

more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) in diameter, including Mexico and an area from Texas to

Iowa. This was also the first natural color picture of

Earth from rocket altitudes. The success NRL
Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 35

achieved in this series of experiments encouraged

Laboratory scientists to believe that, with a more

powerful engine and the addition of upper stages,

the Viking rocket could be made a vehicle capable

of launching an Earth satellite. This eventually led

to the Navy’s Vanguard project.

The Aerobee (1946-1965)

The NRL also used the Aerobee,

supplementing the Viking capability for research. The Aerobee

was developed from the Army’s

successful WAC-Corporal 

program. The rocket, which

emerged in 1946 from a sounding rocket program managed by

the U.S. Navy Bureau of

Ordnance, was developed

because the Navy wanted a

vehicle that was less expensive and less cumbersome than the V-2. The first live firing of an

Aerobee occurred in November 1947, and the

Aerobee was in wide use by U.S. military research

agencies from 1950 until the 1970s. These relatively inexpensive rockets were used for 31 upper

atmosphere experiments specially suited to their

capability. Later redesigned into the Aerobee-Hi

with an enlarged fuel tank, it was used for three

flights in 1957 in conjunction with the International

Geophysical Year.

In the 1950s, the NRL used a balloon-rocket

combination called Rockoon in experiments to

investigate solar radiation and cosmic rays. The

plastic balloon lifted the Deacon rocket to 21,300

meters (70,000 feet) where it was fired by a 

pressure-sensing device. Using this technique, the

rocket could carry a 23-kilogram (50-pound) 

payload to an altitude of more than 130 kilometers

(80 miles). Finally, the NRL devised systems using

Nike boosters with several different second-stage

rockets. These vehicles were used primarily to

study the sun during the 1957-1958 International

Geophysical Year. The NRL also launched Arcas

sounding rockets (together with Air Force

Cambridge Research Laboratory) from 1959 to 

the late 1960s, and the Arcon rocket from 1958 

to 1959. 

The Nike (1946 to present)

The Nike booster was introduced in 1946 during the 

development of the Nike-Ajax

surface-to-air missile for the

Department of Defense. Later it

was used occasionally as a

sounding rocket, but much more

often as the boost stage of a

multi-stage sounding rocket.

The Nike-Deacon version (17

flights) used from 1953 to 1957

was much cheaper than the

Aerobee, and unlike Rockoon could be launched

from fixed launchers in two-and-a-half hours. It

was used for “falling sphere” air density studies,

atmospheric soundings, and for heat transfer studies

launched from Wallops Island (then operated by the

National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, or

NACA). From 1956 to 1961, Nike-Recruit and

Nike-T40 versions were introduced to test ballistic

capsule models for a total of eight flights. NACA

used a Nike-Nike combination in the 1950s to study

aerodynamic and thermodynamic effects on subscale aircraft models. Twenty years later the Air

Force flew a series of Nike-Nike Smoke rockets,

each with a payload consisting of a separable tendegree nose cone filled with titanium tetrachloride

solution. This left a smoke trail in the sky, allowing

winds aloft to be determined by optical measurement. The Air Force was firing the rocket as late as

1979, when its 16th and final flight was conducted

from Chilca in Peru.

Perhaps the most successful version of the

Nike was the Nike-Cajun combination, introduced

in 1956. The Nike-Cajun was the most often

launched sounding rocket in the United States at

714 total flights, and second worldwide only to the

Soviet MMR-06. The Cajun motor was developed

for the NASA in the 1950s by Thiokol, providing a

more modern but still affordable replacement for

the World War II-era Deacon. This rocket was used

to launch a wide variety of payloads, including general upper atmosphere experiments, magnetic field

experiments, horizon photography to obtain weather data, ionosphere experiments, and astronomy

payloads. While the Nike-Cajun was selected as the

Nike-Deacon replacement by the Air Force and
NACA, the Navy selected the competing Asp motor

in 1957 for its sounding rocket projects, having

launched the variant 78 times until 1963. After

NASA took over the Navy’s sounding rockets, the

new organization fired the remaining rockets and

then converted to their favored Nike-Cajun configuration in 1963. NASA also used a Nike-Apache

configuration from 1958 to late 1980 (697 flights),

and the Nike-Tomahawk from 1963 to 1995 (395

flights). These rockets were launched from sites all

over the world, including those mentioned above

for earlier Nike variants, and from lesser-known

sites like Alcantara in Brazil, Fort Churchill in

Canada, and Arecibo in Puerto Rico. There were

nine variants of the Nike. 

The Nike-Tomahawk, Nike-Orion and TaurusNike-Tomahawk versions are still used today,

launched primarily from NASA’s Wallops Flight

Center. A Nike-Black Brant version is also in use

today, and is a combination Nike booster with a

Canadian Black Brant first stage.

Loki (1951-1985)

The Loki was an

American unguided

solid-propellant 

anti-aircraft rocket 

adapted to use as a

meteorological

sounding rocket. In

1956, the Cooper

Development

Corporation (CDC)

received a contract for large-scale production of

sounding rockets of the Loki-Dart type for use as

weather research vehicles. This resulted in the

Rocksonde family of sounding rockets, of which

several thousand were built in the following years.

The Rocksonde could reach an altitude of about 

60 kilometers (37 miles), and the falling chaff was

tracked by a ground-based wind-sensing system to

obtain wind speed and direction data from high to

medium altitudes. It continued to be used throughout the 1960s, but was eventually replaced as the

Air Force’s Loki-Dart.

In the early 1960s, the low-cost Loki-Dart

sounding rockets could only carry a passive chaff

payload to high altitude. For more sophisticated

payloads like temperature transmitters, the Air

Force had to use the significantly more expensive

Arcas rocket. The Loki Dart was eventually

replaced in the early 1970s by the larger Super Loki

family of sounding rockets. The last U.S.

Government launch of a Loki series rocket was on

December 30, 1985 from Wallops Island. However,

surplus Lokis continue to support amateur and 

educational flights in the U.S. and Australia.

Honest John/Taurus (1951 to present)

The Honest John was

the U.S. Army’s first

nuclear-tipped surface-to-surface rocket.

This missile’s booster

was mated to a Nike

booster from 1955 to

1967 for a total of 39

flights designed to test

gliding characteristics,

heat transfer issues, and the parachute system destined for use on the Viking Mars lander missions.

Other heat transfer tests were conducted between

1956 and 1960 using an Honest John-Nike-Recruit

(16 flights), Honest John-Nike-T40 (one flight),

Honest John-Nike-Deacon (one flight), and Honest

John-Nike-Nike (21 flights) combinations. Later,

the Honest John was incorporated into a rocket

called the Exos, developed by the University of

Michigan with the assistance of NACA under a

contract from the Air Force Cambridge Research

Center (AFCRC). It was a three-stage rocket combining an Honest John first stage, a Nike Ajax second stage, and a Thiokol Recruit third stage. The

first flight test of an all-up Exos rocket occurred in

June 1958, and the rocket was flown until 1965

only 10 times.

The direct descendant of the Honest John 

missile still in use today is the Taurus (introduced

in 1977 and not to be confused with the Taurus

orbital launch vehicle from Orbital Sciences

Corporation), now mainly used as a booster for

suborbital rockets launched from Wallops.

Terrier (1959-present)

The Terrier missile, developed as the U.S.

Navy’s first operational shipborne medium-range

surface-to-air missile, became the stock from which

a long lineage of sounding rockets emerged.

A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

36 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Several missiles were converted in 1959 as the

Terrier-Asp and Terrier ASROC Cajun sounding

rockets, and later the very successful TerrierTomahawk, launched from Barking Sands, Hawaii

and Eglin, Florida between 1964 to 1980. The

Terrier-Sandhawk was introduced in 1967 and was

used until 1977, having been launched from

Johnston Atoll in the Pacific, Poker Flat in Alaska,

and Barking Sands to altitudes of between 350 to

450 kilometers (217 to 280 miles). The larger

Terrier-Malemute was developed in 1977 and was

launched until 1990 from Barking Sands, Wallops

Island, Andoya (in Norway), Poker Flat, Kwajalein

Atoll, Punta Lobos (in Peru), and Sonde Stromfjord

(in Greenland).

The Terrier-Orion is the most recent version

of the Terrier rocket series, first launched in 1994

from Wallops Island. This version uses an Orion

rocket, developed in the 1960s, as the second stage.

The rocket is still in service today, launching from

Wallops Island and Woomera in Australia. Slightly

different versions of this rocket, the TerrierMalemute and Terrier-Oriole, are also launched

from time to time.

Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets A Brief History of Major U.S. Suborbital Vehicles

Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation 37
1 Communication with Beyond Earth Enterprises, 

15 April 2004.

2 The Futron Corporation study is available for download at

their website http://www.futron.com/spacetourism/

3 Kristina A. Lynch, "Saving the NASA Rocket Program,"

Space News, July 19, 2004, p. 13.

4 Ibid.

5 Space Launch Corporation Press Release, “The Space

Launch Corporation Successfully Completes Phase 2 of

the RASCAL Program,” 20 November 2004. 

6 TGV Rockets, “Product Description, Section 3.0

Commercialization Plan” (http://www.tgvrockets.com/frm_prod.htm) accessed 20 April 2004. 

7 Craig Ryan, “The Pre-Astronauts: Manned Ballooning on

the Threshold of Space,” Naval Institute Press, 1995.

8 Canadian Arrow, “Canadian Arrow Spacediving”,

(http://www.canadianarrow.com/spacediving.htm)

accessed 28 April 2004.

9 Yahoo Business Week Online, “Fred Smith on the Birth

of FedEX”, (http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine

/content/04_38/b3900032_mz072.htm) accessed 10

January 2005.

10 FedEX Corporation, “Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2003 Report,”

(http://www.fedex.com/us/investorrelations/downloads/rel

eases/Q4FY03.pdf?link=4) accessed 10 January 2005.

11 Computer World.com “Best Places to Work in 2003:

FedEX”, (http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics

/careers/bestplaces2003/company/0,5432,541,00.html)

accessed 10 January 2005.

12 Churchill, Susanne E. , "Fundamental of Space Life

Sciences" Vol. 1, p.77, 1997.

13 Davis, J.R., Jennings, R.T., and Beck BG. "Comparison of

treatment strategies for Space Motion Sickness." Acta

Astronaut. Aug. 1993. 29(8):587-91.

14 Futron Corporation, "Space Tourism Market Study", p.16,

2002.

15 Advent Launch Services website, April 2004.

16 Communication with Beyond Earth Enterprises, 

15 April 2004.

17 Communication with PanAero, 21 January 2005.

18 Communication with Space Transport Corporation, 

6 January 2005.

19 Communication with TGV Rockets, 6 January 2005.

20 Communication with Incredible Adventures, 

11 January 2005.

21 Communication with Space Adventures, 14 January 2005.

22 Virgin Galactic Press Release, “Virgin Group Sign Deal

with Paul G. Allen's Mojave Aerospace: Licensing the

Technology To Develop The World's First Commercial

Space Tourism Operator,” 27 September 2004.

23 For a complete description of U.S. spaceports, see the

FAA's 2005 U.S. Commercial Space Transportation

Developments and Concepts: Vehicles, Technologies and

Spaceports report, available from http://ast.faa.gov.

24 Communication with Virginia Space Flight Center, 2004.

25 Communication with Virginia Space Flight Center, 

10 January 2005.

26 Communication with Virginia Space Flight Center, 

21 January 2005.

27 Communication with Oklahoma Space Industry

Development Authority, 21 January 2005.

28 Communication with Armadillo Aerospace, 

5 October 2004.

Endnotes Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles and Emerging Markets

38 Federal Aviation Administration/Office of Commercial Space Transportation