An Interview with Jeff Greason after he donned the latest version of the Orbital Outfitters pressure suit.

Q:  Some call the suit a space suit, but you prefer the term "pressure suit."  Why?

At the altitude the Lynx will fly, where there is no atmospheric pressure, you need more than just an oxygen supply to stay alive.  You need a pressure suit.There are many arguments about what a space suit is, some say that the term space suit only applies to those suits you would use for extra-vehicular activity, others call anything you wear in space a space suit.  I prefer to avoid all those arguments and just call what we use pressure suits.
(read full article)

An interview with Reuben Garcia, Composites Team Leader
 
Q: Is it important to do our composites in-house?
 
Yes.  Translating designs into actual airframe components often involves on-the-spot adjustments that would be time-consuming and expensive if XCOR had farmed out its composites work.  We can make changes in real time and that saves time and money.
 
In-house capability is even more important during flight tests.  When we tested the second generation rocket plane I found that my experience of making the modifications to the airframe helped a lot as we evaluated the test results. (read full article)

XCOR's investment strategy has always included seeking out private and government sector R&D contracts.  Generally the contracts we bid on involve technology we believe is necessary for achieving our goal of providing affordable space access.  The contracts also meet the needs of the customer's project.  And, we have generally been quite successful in these endeavors.  Every time we receive a contract that helps us further design and build a piece of the Lynx, we don't have to raise those funds from outside investors.  Our COO, Andrew Nelson, calls it "nondilutive capital."
(read full article)