X Prize announcement: launches scheduled?

Posted by Scott Laird Wed, 21 Jul 2004 17:35:45 GMT

Spacetoday.net is reporting that the X Prize Foundation is holding a press conference on Tuesday, July 27th, and will probably announce at least one team’s scheduled launch attempts. Currently, Scaled Composites and da Vinci are rumored to be ready to launch.

Since the prize expires at the end of 2004, and the rules require 60 days notice before launch, there are only a couple months left for teams to announce launch attempts.

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SpaceShipOne returning to earth

Posted by Scott Laird Mon, 21 Jun 2004 15:03:26 GMT

CNN says they’re coming back down, and suggests that the rocket didn’t fire exactly right, and they may not have made the altitude. No real details yet. Dick Rutan thinks they made it, but he’s just guessing.

Update: CNN’s reporting that they made it to 100km.

Update: Newsweek says that they made it to 328,491 feet, which is 408 feet higher then they needed to go. They also have some hints about Rutan’s new “346” project. Hurry up, guys–we’re all waiting for SpaceShip Two. My big question is if they’ll go straight for orbit, or if they’ll take smaller steps. Today’s flight only took them half as high as Freedom 7.

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