XCOR will be holding a press conference this Wednesday about the spaceship they are building. It will be their third manned rocket powered vehicle so this is no idle threat.

This press event will be held Wednesday, March 26, at 10 a.m. in the Canon Room of the Beverly Hilton at 9876 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, CA 90210. Lunch will be served afterwards. The speaker will be XCOR test pilot Rick Searfoss. Rick has also flown the Space Shuttle three times as pilot and commander. If you are a media person who would like to attend, I presume you should call XCOR as soon as possible, although the information passed to me did not give any details on this.

According to a source associated with XCOR:

The prototype propulsion system for the Lynx now has more than two hundred flight equivalents on it and is in flight test now.

Fourteen engine runs yesterday, probably as many today.

The key to economic space transport is safe, reusable, and operable propulsion.No one else has anything like XCOR engines in that regard. Because engines are the most difficult and expensive part of the vehicle to develop, XCOR has a big advantage over its competitors. That includes giant firms like EADS Astrium.

In fact, no one anywhere has ever built anything even close to the economic efficiency of the XCOR engines.

I must of course note that I have worked as a consultant to XCOR, which basically means I know from the inside how good they are at this!

I would tell you more but I would have to shred you afterwards.