The maiden revenue flight of US space tourism company Aera's Altairis rocket is planned to take place in December 2006 with a full complement of six paying passengers and one mission commander, writes Rob Coppinger.
The seven-man rocket will launch from Florida Space Authority's Cape Canaveral site vertically and land back at the space port horizontally, using a parafoil and fore and aft airbags. Three test flights are planned from August 2006, the first two unmanned, and the third with a pilot.
The single-stage rocket uses a helium pressurised liquid oxygen, RP1 jet fuel engine. Reaching its apogee, it will use gas jets to orient itself into a horizontal position for re-entry.
Its clam shell nose cone will open to create frontal canards to maintain the horizontal orientation in the atmosphere and at 25,000ft (7,625m) the parafoil will be released. "We will fly to 80 miles for a 30 minute [computer controlled] flight," says Bill Sprague, Aera's president and chief scientist.
Tickets cost $250,000 and can be ordered via a website, but a deposit of $62,500 is required.
Source: Flight International