One time X-Prize contender Canadian Arrow has formed a joint venture called Planetspace – with former Mircorp director Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria – to offer $250,000 suborbital flights from April 2007. Canadian Arrow was developing a rocket based on the German Second World War V-2 for the X-Prize, which was won by Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne last year.
The V-2 engine has been successfully tested at a thrust level of 50,000lb (223kN), which is sufficient to gets its three-man capsule into space.
"There are three or four potential launch sites in the Great Lakes area. We would recover from there. We have to pick one, but first we have to talk to the local communities," said Geoff Sheerin, president of Canadian Arrow, speaking at last week's American Insititute of Aeronautics and Astronautics/CIRA 13th International Space Planes and Hypersonics Systems and Technologies Conference at Capua, near Naples in Italy.
The capsule would separate from the rocket's main body and return to Earth, landing in one of the Great Lakes using a parachute recovery system. Both the capsule and the recovery system have been drop tested. The main body is also recoverable via parachutes and a lake landing.
Karuthia Holdings has invested an undisclosed sum of money into the development of the Canadian Arrow vehicle that will pay for its completion and launch in 24 months and taken a 50% stake in Planetspace. Canadian Arrow owns the other 50% and would have a service agreement with Planetspace to provide the rocket.
ROB COPPINGER/NAPLES
Source: Flight International
