Commercial spaceflight company Excalibur Almaz has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Xcor to provide suborbital astronaut training.
Xcor builds the Lynx, a horizontal takeoff and horizontal landing suborbital spacecraft. Flights aboard the Lynx will be used to acclimate and train astronauts who are destined for platforms refurbished by Excalibur Almaz that operate in microgravity and zero-gravity environments.
Excalibur, which will use revamped Soviet space hardware to operate in low Earth orbit, cislunar and deep space. Hardware plans include two space stations and a capsule, left over from the Soviet Union's military Soyuz programme. The company has signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement with NASA in order to facilitate technical cooperation.
The Isle of Man, United Kingdom-based company revealed its detailed spaceflight plans only in May, when it announced plans to orbit a space station around the moon and use Russian launch vehicles to ferry people and supplies.
Neither Excalibur nor Xcor immediately responded to questions.
Source: Flight International
