Officials from NASA and from the private space-flight company XCOR announced last week that the Lynx suborbital spacecraft will launch its tourist space flights from the 4,500-meter runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SPACE.com reports, via CBS News.
In March, XCOR announced the development of the plane-like craft, which can achieve an altitude of about 100 km, allowing tourists on board to see the Earth against the black backdrop of space, the company’s website says.
XCOR and NASA are working through Space Florida, SPACE.com reported. Space Florida, supported in part by funds from the economic development agency in Florida, ironed out the agreement that would ultimately allow XCOR to build a manufacturing facility at and fly from Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility.
“Up until now, Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral have been known for launching rockets that carry satellites and NASA people,” SPACE.com quoted NASA administrator Charles Bolden as saying. “We want the Space Coast to be known as the place where any person who wants to launch in America comes here.”