Rockets And More Set For 1st X Prize Show
The X Prize Cup event to be held Oct. 4 – 9 in Las Cruces, N.M., will feature rocket demonstrations, hovercraft and rocket planes, the organizers announced at a press conference last week. Many X Prize competitors will be there, demonstrating their technology or showing mockups and plans, and several groups plan to launch small homebuilt rockets up to 20,000 feet or more. This year’s event is billed as the Countdown to the X Prize Cup, which will become a yearly competitive event to spotlight the personal spaceflight business, said Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation. Diamandis said his vision is for the public to come to an X Prize Cup in the next few years and witness for themselves over the course of four or five days as many as 50 flights to space. “That’s the vision … that’s the goal,” he said. He expects the event to draw tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of visitors.
