Build A Plane to Use XCOR Assets for Build A Rocket Project

Non-profit organization Build A Plane has acquired the assets of Mojave, California-based commercial space flight company XCOR, which filed for bankruptcy last year. Build A Plane will use the assets to build a school and to support its latest project: Build A Rocket, which is set to launch next year. According to a report by Space.com, the non-profit bought XCOR's assets for just over $1 million, beating out Space Florida, which put a bid in for $1 million. Sage Cheshire Aerospace, which built the Red Bull Stratos capsule that Felix Baumgartner famously jumped out of in 2012, has partnered with Build A Plane for the project.

Build A Plane’s Build A Rocket project was launched recently and aims to provide an opportunity for high schools and college students to build high performance, 18-foot, high-powered rockets. Build A Rocket will soon be offering pre-maunfactured rocket kits to STEM education programs. The kits will be easily manufactured with the use of common tools, such as screwdrivers and wrenches, according to a statement on the Build A Plane’s website. These rocket kits will cost approximately $5,000 and should be available next year.

As with Build A Plane's collaborative project with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association and Glasair Aviation, which sends high school students who win an aircraft design contest to Arlington, Washington, to build a Glasair Sportsman, Build A Rocket will select students to come to California to build "one very special rocket," according to the statement. The project is slated to begin next year and students can sign up here.