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Anousheh Ansari, co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. (TTI) and multi-million co-contributor to the X-Prize foundation, is in training in Russia as back up cosmonaut to SFP Daisuke Enomoto (Japan). Sources in the US are revealing that the role model will begin full training from April, at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC).

LANCASTER - The country is entering a second space age, one driven not by Cold War rivalries, but by the challenges of maintaining and further promoting the nation's historic excellence in space enterprise. "The second space age must feature exploration of the universe while achieving synergy among commercial, civil and military space programs," said. Rep. Ken Calvert, speaking at the Antelope Valley Board of Trade's 2006 Business Outlook Conference on Friday. Maintaining the nation's focus on space enterprise is important even as the country faces budgetary challenges such as those brought on by war or natural disasters. "We can not...

They are not international and there are not going to be any gold, silver, or bronze medals, but the Centennial Challenge s program is competition at the highest level. Ever since Peter Diamandis revived the idea of prizes back in 1996 with the X Prize (later renamed the Ansari X Prize) the concept has been slowly taking hold in the US and elsewhere, first with the DARPA Grand Challenge for robotic vehicles and Robert Bigelow’s America’s Space Prize, and now with these NASA prizes. Before the US Congress passed the NASA authorization bill in December of last year, the space...

A Saint Louis University professor and a contender for the X Prize plan to unveil Thursday their plans for a space vehicle that would take passengers into orbit to the International Space Station. Paul Czysz, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering, is teaming up with Ontario-based PlanetSpace and Canadian Arrow, a competitor for the X Prize, to develop the orbital vehicle, called the Silver Dart. The vehicle is based on a hypersonic glider Czysz helped test in the early 1960s.

The X Prize Foundation has completed a study on how the Federal Government—NASA—can establish cash prizes to spur human-carrying orbital spacecraft. A Human Orbital Vehicle (HOV) challenge would build upon NASA’s Centennial Challenges program. Presently, however, that effort is limited in the size of prizes offered by the space agency, now no greater than $250,000. NASA’s Centennial Challenges are contests to stimulate innovation and competition in solar system exploration and ongoing NASA mission objectives. Numbers of Centennial Challenges have already been put in place, from tether and beam power competitions to astronaut glove development and making oxygen out of the...

Beside the war in Iraq and the scrap over the President's Supreme Court nominee, last month's announcement of the Rocket Racing League--the what?--came off as comic relief. What's this, a new Jetsons movie? Or could George Plimpton be risen from the dead and writing spoofs? The Rocket Racing League, though, is no put-on. It's real, the brainchild of Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., the private-space-travel entrepreneur, and Granger B. Whitelaw, entrepreneur, venture capitalist and two-time Indy 500 team winner. Diamandis was the force behind last year's Ansari X Prize, won by Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne for kissing the boundary of space...

Two former rocketeer rivals are teaming up to develop privately-built spacecraft, officials with both groups said Friday. Canada’s London, Ontario-based firm PlanetSpace and the Romanian aerospace company ARCA – both past competitors in the $10 million Ansari X Prize contest for suborbital spaceflight – are pooling their expertise or a joint space project. While some details of the partnership remain under wraps, the collaboration will likely include the sharing of technology and other resources, PlanetSpace officials said. “We both have capabilities to bring to each other,” PlanetSpace president and CEO Geoff Sheerin told SPACE.com. “It’s a good fit to test...

The news that NASA is talking to the X Prize Foundation about supporting a series of Centennial Challenge competitions to encourage the design of rockets for use on the Moon is pretty good news. If all goes well, NASA will offer a purse—perhaps a million dollars or more—to the winning team. The only question is, what exactly is the prize for? According to the NASA press release there will in fact be two prizes “tentatively named the Suborbital Payload Challenge and the Suborbital Lunar Lander Analog Challenge.” Both the space agency and the foundation are expected to work out the...

Masten Space Systems announced Wednesday that it strongly supported the recent agreement between NASA and the X Prize Foundation to develop two suborbital Centennial Challenges and that, pending announcements on rules, it looked forward to participating. While the two new Challenges are restricted to suborbital ranges, they represent increases in altitude and technology that push the marketplace forward. The Suborbital Payload Challenge is a prize for the first team to achieve altitudes useful to scientific research payloads, such as astronomical and atmospheric research instruments and longer-duration micro-gravity experiments. These altitudes are typically in excess of 200 kilometers and as high...

NASA wants to teaming up with the X-Prize foundation to fund two new competitions to develop technology for sub-orbital space vehicles, as part of its Centennial Challenges program. Subject to statutory budget approval, NASA will stump up prize money of more than $250,000 for each competition, while the X-Prize Foundation will handle the business of running the contests.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Several thousand space enthusiasts swarmed to the city's airport for a glimpse of a future in which you might just as easily book a rocket to space as you would a plane to Las Vegas. The final day of X Prize Cup Week in New Mexico on Sunday drew a throng of would-be astronauts, entrepreneurs and curiosity seekers. They milled about the wind-swept airport grounds transformed for the afternoon into a Tomorrowland-type theme park. The organizers' goals were to show off what clever things entrepreneurs are doing to get into space, and to promote the X...

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico - – Despite its grand finale ending with an unexpected bang, the Personal Spaceflight Expo held here today as part of the Countdown to the X Prize Cup was a success, attracting thousands of onlookers who explored space capsules, rubbed elbows with astronauts and watched high-performance rocketry shoot through the sky. They even watched a few mishaps in what is billed as the emergence of rocketry for the masses and public space travel. The whole event, which ran from October 6 - 9, was organized by the X Prize Foundation and hosted by the State of...

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- Preparations are in full swing for the Countdown to the X Prize Cup—a celebration of a new generation of private passenger-carrying spaceships built for speed and to foster space tourism. An array of spaceship concepts will be spotlighted during a Spaceflight Exposition, to be held here October 9 at the International Airport-Las Cruces, along with entrepreneurs, engineers, and pilots involved in the projects. Peter Diamandis is the mastermind behind the Countdown to the X Prize Cup, and is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the X Prize Foundation.

  Artist's concept of racer. Rocket Racing League    X-Prize man launches rocket race  Peter Diamandis, the man behind the $10m X-Prize for suborbital space travel, has brought forward his new initiative: the Rocket Racing League. The RRL will see Grand Prix-style races between rocket planes, flown by top pilots through a "3D trackway" just 5,000ft (1,500m) above the ground. The first "X-Racers" will be built for the series, but it is hoped new teams will soon enter with novel designs. Events will be staged across the US, culminating in a final in New Mexico.     The Rocket...

NEW YORK -- Traffic cops beware, there’s a whole new league of speed demon in town. A private group of rocketeers has banded together to create the Rocket Racing League with aims at blurring the line between competitive racing and human spaceflight. Their vision: A fleet of at least 10 stock rocket planes flown by crack pilots through a three-dimensional track 5,000 feet above the Earth. “This is where innovation begins,” said league co-founder Peter Diamandis, who unveiled the new rocket league here today, in an interview. “It’s all part of the same…mission, which is to make space personally accessible...

Hartford, CT (PRWEB) September 26, 2005 -- UP Aerospace, Inc. (www.upaerospace.com), the world's only operational, private space-launch company, will exhibit its renowned "SpaceLoft" rocket at the upcoming Countdown to the X PRIZE CUP. The X PRIZE CUP event will take place at the Las Cruces International Airport, New Mexico, on Sunday, October 9th, from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. Visitors can take photos along side a SpaceLoft rocket, and discuss the space-flying capabilities of this unique spacecraft with the principals of UP Aerospace. The SpaceLoft rocket will make history on March 27, 2006, as it will be the first rocket...

SAN LUIS OBISPO - The nation's youth need something new and exciting to inspire them to be the creative geniuses of tomorrow, Burt Rutan believes. Rutan, arguably one of today's most creative geniuses, thinks commercial manned spaceflight is the answer to that challenge. Rutan outlined his vision for the future of personal space travel for the masses Friday at his alma mater, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The noted aviation designer - seen by many as responsible for launching a new era in spaceflight with his SpaceShipOne spacecraft - was honored by the university during its annual Fall...

The first official presentation of the ORIZONT vehicle took place in the Constitution Place. For the first time, the general public and media was informed about this vehicle, may be the most important private European initiative in the field of manned space flight.

New Mexico's new Spaceport Authority met for the first time last Wednesday to start making plans for a new commercial spaceport in the state. "Now we move into implementation," Spaceport Authority Chairman Rick Homans told Space.com after the meeting. A site of 27 square miles, about 45 miles north of Las Cruces, has already been designated as the Southwest Regional Spaceport. The Authority will begin work on an environmental impact assessment within the next month, Homans said, and hopes to have an FAA license to operate as a spaceport by the end of next year. Homans said the Spaceport Authority...

iiiklMOJAVE, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR Aerospace, Inc. has announced that the company will conduct multiple flight tests of the EZ-Rocket during the weekend of October 6-9 at the inaugural Countdown to the X PRIZE CUP in New Mexico. Flights will take place between 11am and 5pm at the Las Cruces International Airport. Piloting the EZ-Rocket during its several demonstration flights will be Col. Richard A. Searfoss ret. USAF, a former NASA Astronaut and Chief Judge of the Ansari X PRIZE. "This is a marvelous chance for people to get up close and personal with rocket powered vehicles," said...