Lynx Aerodynamic Design Tested in AFRL Wind Tunnel Published Nov. 17, 2009 By Robyn Dinwiddle Air Vehicles WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Working under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, XCOR Aerospace, Inc., performed subsonic wind tunnel tests using an Air Force Research Laboratory facility at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. XCOR completed the test series to validate the aerodynamic design of its all-metal 1/16th-scale Lynx suborbital launch vehicle model. The CRADA allows AFRL and XCOR to collaborate in developing the aerodynamic elements of the Lynx, a vehicle that will ultimately provide valuable knowledge towards the development of future space access systems. AFRL will benefit from the specific data derived from the process. XCOR is also working with AFRL on several other contracts, including a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research contract to supply operational data from the Lynx, which will assist the development of operationally responsive spacecraft. The Lynx, which is designed to safely fly to the edge of space and back multiple times a day, is expected to make its first flight in 2010. XCOR team members are analyzing the model and data results back at their Mojave, California, base. Because the Lynx is designed to travel at supersonic (as well as subsonic) speeds, refined models of the vehicle will be built and tested in a supersonic wind tunnel later this year. Not only is the Lynx program refining the vehicle's aerodynamic design, it is making progress in fabricating the crew cabin, testing cryogenic pumps for use in the propulsion system, and continuing tests of the liquid fuel rocket engines that will propel the vehicle to the edge of space. Through the Lynx effort, XCOR is making concrete headway in turning the dream of affordable space access into reality.