High Altitude Research Corporation


High Altitude Research Corporation

H.A.R.C. was the last entrant into the X-Prize competition. The team is headed by one Tim Pickens, and it is particularly interesting to note that Tim is also working with Scaled Composites on Spaceship One, which seems set to take the prize some time in 2004. So, what is going on? Perhaps H.A.R.C. expects to be able to make an income out of sub-orbital flights with its "Liberator" craft, whether or not it wins the X-Prize? There is a team of seven people, including Tim Pickens (any relation to Slim?). There are substantial facilities for manufacturing components, as evidenced by the photos on the website. There are also photos and a movie of engine testing. The engine to be used on Liberator is a pressure-fed LOx/Kerosene combination. This is a standard configuration, and is expected to be very reliable in use.	As the diagram shows, launching and recovery are at sea. This makes licensing (in the USA) a lot easier, apparently. Construction on flight hardware does not seem to have been started, but there is a mock-up of Liberator, standing some 30 feet high. No test programme leading to the X-Prize attempt was found on the website at the time of writing, so it didn't look as if the Liberator was going to fly in 2004, and it didn't, but progress with these projects always depends on sufficient funding being made available, so the project could get more lively, soon.