Private | |
Industry | Aerospace and space tourism |
Founded | September 1999 |
Headquarters | Mojave Air and Space Port, Mojave, California |
Key people
|
John H. Gibson (CEO) |
Products | suborbital spaceflight |
Revenue | n/a |
Number of employees
|
40 |
Website | www.xcor.com |
XCOR Aerospace is an American private spaceflight and rocket engine development company based at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, Midland International Air and Spaceport in Midland, Texas and the Amsterdam area, the Netherlands. XCOR was formed by former members of the Rotary Rocket rocket engine development team in September, 1999.
XCOR is headed by John "Jay" Gibson who is CEO.
XCOR Aerospace is the parent operation and is concerned with engineering and building spaceships. There are two main subdivisions within it; XCOR Space Expeditions provides marketing and sales, and XCOR Science conducts scientific and educational payload flights.
The company was founded in Mojave, California in 1999 by Jeff Greason, Dan DeLong, Aleta Jackson and Doug Jones who had previously worked at the Rotary Rocket company.
In 2001, XCOR designed and built EZ-Rocket, the first privately built and flown rocket-powered airplane. EX-Rocket made its maiden flight in July 2001.
XCOR moved its development and manufacturing operations to Midland, Texas from July 2012 to 2015. The company uses the Mojave Air and Space port primarily to conduct test flights.
In 2015, XCOR attracted investment from Chinese venture firm Haiyin Capital, valuing the company at $140 million.
In mid-2015, John "Jay" Gibson succeeded Jeff Greason—CEO from 1997-2015—as CEO. Later that year three of the co-founders, Jeff Greason, Dan DeLong and Aleta Jackson, left the company to found Agile Aero, an aerospace company focused on rapid development and prototyping of aerodynamic spacecraft.