With this designation, the State of Oklahoma awarded to Rocketplane re-sellable tax credits that were used to initiate operations, develop facilities, and recruit the required engineering staff.
These publications reported, "Rocketplane Kistler officials failed to meet a funding deadline mandated by a NASA contract to build a reusable rocket ..." Space News reported in a June 25, 2007 story, "... if RpK [Rocketplane Kistler] misses the new deadline, it would be the fourth time the company has gone back to NASA and requested an extension."
On October 19, the company appealed the decision, and asked NASA to reconsider the termination or, alternatively, pay $10 million in costs incurred to date.
Rocketplane Global significantly updated and revised the Pathfinder plans to submit a bid for DARPA's XS-1 program, but did not win a contract.
[6] Rocketplane anticipated ticket prices of US$200,000 for a seat on a suborbital flight, including 4 minutes of weightlessness, with an apogee of over 100 kilometers altitude.
Rocketplane Global's XS design follows on the work done on the XP passenger vehicle and continues using jet engines for take off and flight to altitude.
It then loads on LOX and fuel from a tanker airplane, and then fires its rocket engines and flies to 100+ km, where it releases a second stage booster to carry the satellite(s) to orbit.