SCI/TECH: X Prize Competition Gets New Sponsor, huge boost to future space travel and tourism

Wednesday, only a few months before the end of the $10 million competition to build and launch reusable spaceships, the Ansari family announced a multimillion dollar contribution to the X PRIZE Foundation. The X PRIZE competition is being renamed the ANSARI X PRIZE Competition.

SpaceRef.com Story

The ANSARI X PRIZE will award $10 million to the first private organization to build and fly a ship that can carry three passengers 100 km (62 miles) into space, return safely to Earth and repeat the launch with the same ship within two weeks. Both flights must be completed by January 1st, 2005.

According to Peter Diamandis, chairman of the international X Prize competition, the race will most likely be won in mere months.
"We do expect the X Prize to be captured within three to five months", Diamandis said during a presentation before the 41st Space Congress, Apr 29th.


So far, the leader appears to be SpaceShipOne, led by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites. With a launch license already in hand, and several test flights under his belt, Rutan appears poised to snag the X Prize. But Diamandis added that other teams are also well on their way, including the Canadian Da Vinci team headed by Brian Feeney, which has secured a launch license in Canada.

Related News Stories
Private Spaceship Completes Second Rocket-Powered Test Flight
US FAA grants licence to Scaled Composites for SpaceShipOne rocket-plane


Related websites
www.xprize.org...
www.scaled.com...
www.xprize.org...

Pretty good news.The only thing that bugs me is that Burt Rutan keeps Spaceshipone's test flights unannounced and not televised at all.Theyr'e preaching about how this space race is gonna change the world but to this point we hardly see or hear much about it on tv.I don't mean to bash them i just hope they'll be more coverage soon.

Originally posted by PARALYZ
i just hope they'll be more coverage soon.

Don't worry when the record breaking flight takes place it will be all over the news.

X Prize Will Be Won by 'Summer's End', Event Organizer Says

Originally posted by PARALYZ
Pretty good news.The only thing that bugs me is that Burt Rutan keeps Spaceshipone's test flights unannounced and not televised at all.Theyr'e preaching about how this space race is gonna change the world but to this point we hardly see or hear much about it on tv.I don't mean to bash them i just hope they'll be more coverage soon.

Actually, if you look deeper into Scaled, you'll find that Burt's non-disclosure attitude is nothing new. Scaled does not comment on ongoing research until it's completely finished. You might also notice that Scaled made the Pegasus rocket which was used to test the new U.S. ScramJet engine and has produced a variety of 'secret' UCAV's for the military.

This is an exciting period of time in regards to space travel. It's too abd there isn't more media coverage.

Originally posted by spngsambigpants
It's too abd there isn't more media coverage.

There is lots of media coverage...its just not mainstream yet... wait till August

Way cool stuff! Thanks for the continued reminders, with all the war crap happening this stuff gets lost easily.

From the conspiracy side of me.

I know this has been going on for a few years, but there seems to be allot more companies involved than I really expected. For some it will cost more to develope then the prize I would guess, but the real money would be in the commericial developement. It kind of makes me wonder why nobody has done this sooner. Almost like they were suddenly given permission or some key technology was released. It's not like nobody has never thought of it, even me & my friends talked about building a spacecraft as kids.

Really though I guess maybe it's the right time & the technology has become affordable and for some of the companies it's just a natural progression from their aircraft.

Originally posted by outsider
For some it will cost more to develope then the prize I would guess,

Thats the point of the X-Prize. To stimulate serious private investment into the creation of a fully reusable launch vehicle. The ratio of invest is usually 5x-8x the actuall prize amount so some companies are spending alot of dough. I know that the local Toronto, Ontario team the Da-Vinci project has easily spent 20mil by now.

but the real money would be in the commericial developement.

The companies that are involved in the X-Prize are looking to enter the history books sorta like the first atlantic flight way back in the golden days of flight. Commerce is secondary to alot of competitors(right now). And remember the X-Prize competition is only the first step. They also plan on holding an annual X-Prize Cup in either Florida or New-Mexico where they plan on pushing the envelope higher, faster, cheaper, and more importantly pushing the publicity envelope into the Mainstream.

New Mexico to Host Private 'X Prize' Spaceflight Race

The X Prize Foundation and the New Mexico Office of Space Commercialization are joining forces to stage the multi-faceted X Prize Cup, a two-week long event that allows for privately-financed, passenger-carrying space vehicles to compete for prizes.

At a press conference to be held later today at the State House in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Governor Bill Richardson is set to announce that New Mexico has been picked as the site for the X Prize Cup. The event would be held at the Southwest Regional Spaceport during the same timeframe each year.

Quote from this link

EDIT
With this announcement Mexico will now be donating 9 mil to the X-Prize Cup as it was on condition that Nex-Mexico be chosen as the location of the annual X-Prize Cup.
END OF EDIT

[Edited on 11-5-2004 by sardion2000]

Canadian Arrow Team Moves Forward in Human-Rating Rocket

In the quest to build and fly suborbital passenger spaceships, the Canadian Arrow is ready to roar. A series of unpiloted validation tests of rocket systems are now slated for this summer.

The testing is scheduled to take place over a period of four months beginning in August. According to Canadian Arrow team leader, Geoff Sheerin of London Ontario, Canada, the rocket's launch pad abort and escape systems are to be evaluated first.

"This testing will be essential before any manned launches are attempted," the group announced in a press statement. A set of solid rocket motors mounted in the nosecone section are to be ignited, pulling the nosecone and crew cabin off the booster.

Purpose of the shakeout is to verify that rocket abort hardware is reliable enough for human-rating the booster.

The race is on!! Can Canadian X-Prize contestants be able to catch up to the SpaceShipOne team? Unlikely since Scaled could probably take the prize now if they wanted to they are just being careful.

Quote souce here

Chalk up another booming flight of the privately-backed SpaceShipOne, the piloted rocket plane designed to soar to the edge of space and glide to a runway landing.

With pilot Mike Melvill at the controls -- following release from the White Knight turbojet-powered launch aircraft high above the Mojave, California desert -- SpaceShipOne punched through the sky today boosted by a hybrid propellant rocket motor. According to sources who witnessed the flight, SpaceShipOne appears to have reached an altitude of a little over 200,000 feet.

It wont be long now people, hang on its gonna be a wild ride...

Quote souce at Space.com