29 July 2004
You may have thought that, following SpaceShipOne’s recent, triumphant space shot, the X Prize (USD 10m up for grabs for the first reusable non-governmental spaceship) would go straight to the Rutan team in the Mojave desert.
Not necessarily so. It’s true that they’re some way ahead in the race, but Canadian competitor the da Vinci Project have now announced that it will be rolling out its Wild Fire spaceship next meanwhile.
Meanwhile, back in the Mojave, the Rutan team has announced the date for its first actual attempt at the X Prize. It will take place on 29 September. According to the rules of the competiiton, a second flight to space will then have to take place by 13 October.
<a href=’http://www.xprize.org’ target=’_blank’>The X Prize website</a>.
