XCOR Aerospace to Establish Operations and Manufacturing Base in Florida
Hmmm. XCOR is expanding… but not, it seems, in the heavily taxed and overly regulated state of California. I’ve read rumors – but no primary sources, to take it for what it’s worth – that the California Air Resources Board has made it very expensive and difficult to work with kerosene in that state. And since the XCOR Lynx engines burn kerosene… Texas and Florida win out.
Of course, flying out of Florida just makes sense. When you think of “space tourism,” Cape Canaveral certainly comes to mind; the Mojave desert, not so much. And it appears that that’s the way it’ll stay.
Given the regulatory environment in California, I shudder to imagine what it would be like trying to fly passengers there.