spacetoday.net: Curacao to host space tourism

Posted: Wed, Oct 6, 2010, 6:25 AM ET (1025 GMT)
XCOR Lynx vehicle illustration (Mike Massee/XCOR)

A Dutch company has reached an agreement to lease a suborbital vehicle and operate it from the Caribbean island of Curacao for space tourism flights. Space Experience Curacao (SXC) signed a memorandum of understanding with XCOR Aerospace to lease a Lynx suborbital spaceplane currently under development. SXC plans to fly the Lynx from the Curacao airport starting in 2014 for space tourism flights. The Lynx will be operated under a "wet lease" agreement with US crews to help reduce any export control issues. The deal is the second such agreement inked by Mojave-based XCOR, after signing a similar deal with a South Korean organization last year. A Lynx prototype is scheduled to begin test flights next year.