The X-Prize

There will soon be an effort to collect the x-prize. Pictured below is the Canadian entry.
The x-prize is a cash prize of 10 million dollars. It was offered in 1996. It is hoped that
The x-prize will spur commercial space travel without being a millionaire to do it. There
are so far 20 teams from 5 countries entered for the prize.

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For more on the Canadian entry:*here*

For more on the x-prize:*here*

 

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For a long time, I had high hopes for the roton winning the x-prize. Not just because it looked silly (which it unqestionably did, to my mind), but because it was a new design.

Now that we've got people willing to pay $20m to get into space, though, the x-prize has become less important (IMO). But it's still a cool idea.

 

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Personally, I think the x-prize is a bunch of BS myself. I find it really hard to believe that anybody is going to be able to develop a launch vehicle that is reliable, reusable (under 2 weeks?), and cheap.

One of two things need to happen if we want space travel to be cheaper. Either we need to mass produce rockets, and come up with another form of propulsion. Since it would be difficult to get the amount of rocket fuel needed for a fleet of rockets I don't think this option is viable. Coming up with a new form of propulsion is the answer, but of course this is easier said than done.

Anti-matter propulsion might be the way to go, but from what I understand about the subject we would need grams of the stuff to do anything useful. If I'm not mistaken, currently we can only produce femto-grams of anti-matter so we have a long we to go.

Anyway, to make a long story short, in my mind 10 million dollars for a manned reusable launch vehicle is highly ambitous and is probably un-feasible.

Even current LV's are having trouble. Here's a link about the troubles that Arianne are currently going through:

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/020508033606.ai1hgja5.html

 

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Welcome to sciforums, empennage,

The Canadian entry, The Arrow, uses alcohol and lox as it's rocket fuel. The design lends itself to refueling quicker.

Mergers have drastic effects on service companies that support the respective majors. As your link shows, the effect here is a reduction in the demand for satellite placement into orbit.

The x-prize was designed with a little something different in mind. The placing for people into "space", returning and doing a turn around, all within a time limit. It was hoped that it would help lower the cost of a space launch, (now within the realm of governments but not individuals) increase the reliability, and place the means to reach orbit within toursim range. $10 million is not a lot of money for what they want done. Most prizes of this nature wind up costing the inventor/developer more money than they get back. But cost is indeed a factor.

Lindburg is an example of someone going after a prize. His solo flight across the Altantic had never been done before. He paved the way, showing that it was possible. Today we never consider what an effort that must have been in his time, as international flights are commonplace. This is what is hoped to be spurred by the offering of the x-prise

Coming up with another form of propulsion would be nice. You are correct that we have a long way to go before we can manufacture antimatter in anything that comes close to usable proportions. There are several means being looked at and experimented with now. Hopefully one will render a cheaper and cleaner method of space launch with greater weight capabilities. A lot of what is being looked at is not feasible today due to material or technology limitations.

 

X-prize.


How soon do you think we will have private spaceships out on the market?

 

They should make sure the money for the X-Prize is in the highest intrest account they can find. They then will get at least five hundred-thousand dollars a year in intrest. (and that's a conservative estimate)

That money can then be pumped back into the same account to generate even more intrest. Eventually, they will have enough of a prize to REALLY entice people to attempt commercial or private spaceflight.

 

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SpaceShipOne
Credit: Scaled Composites

Slung below its equally innovative mothership dubbed White Knight, SpaceShipOne rides above planet Earth, photographed during a recent flight test. SpaceShipOne was designed and built by cutting-edge aeronautical engineer Burt Rutan and his company Scaled Composites to compete for the X Prize. The 10 million dollar X prize is open to private companies and requires the successful launch of a spaceship which carries three people on short sub-orbital flights to an altitude of 100 kilometers -- a scenario similar to the early manned spaceflights of NASA's Mercury Program. Unlike more conventional rocket flights to space, SpaceShipOne will first be carried to an altitude of 50,000 feet by the twin turbojet White Knight and then released before igniting its own hybrid solid fuel rocket engine. After the climb to space, the craft will convert to a stable high drag configuration for re-entry, ultimately landing like a conventional glider at light plane speeds.

 

WET1 what about nuclear fission. I recall watching a special on TLC where a scientists said if we are able to break the nuclear bonds of the atom we can get tremendous amount of energy from just about anything. They even gave a figure: One raison would be enough to launch 23 spaceshutles into space.

 

cash on rutan

Since 1972, he's rolled out an unmatched record of 38 experimental aircraft. The best known are the Voyager, which made the first nonstop, non-refueled flight around the world, and the Proteus which holds the world record for altitude, distance and payload lift.

somewhere midpage

 

The biggest problems we have with any nuclear material being used for launches is that those very launches must get approval before launching. (The equivalent of filing a flight plan) To date very few have managed to get clearance with nuclear materials on board for use as propulsion or for even a powerplant. One such that did manage to get approval was for a test engine. To be allowed to launch it, it had to be inactive during launch and all sorts of requirements had to be met to ensure that it was safe to launch into space. One of the large fears of launching any such material is the possibility of having to destruct a launch that went off course. That such nuclear material might blown up, it would likely contaminate a large area and make cleanup a nightmare.

What would you use for raditation shielding during launch? How would you control the byproduct radioactives? More importantly, how would you control the reaction to prevent a run-a-way? Remember that weight is at a preminum in a "flying craft", especially one launched from the surface of the earth. Most satisfactory sheilds are made from dense material (meaning that it will weight quite a bit).

Thanx for the link to the article, spookz. I enjoyed it.

 

what about a rocket launched by compressed gas, with a barometric sensor that inflates a helium baloon when it gets to a certain height, using squirts of gas as manuvering thrusters to achieve a stable orbit?

a few bugs to work out but...

 

Well. there was a proposed solution like yours, but in reverse!

Launch high altitude balloons on tethers, and have them support a launch platform. This way, you save a lot on fuel, as you just 'skyhook' up through most of the atmosphere.

Lovely idea, if only the practicalities could be ironed out.

 

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FLIGHT SEQUENCE
The Negev 5 will be a self-sufficient reusable sub-orbital space vehicle capable of being launched and recovered anywhere in the world from land or sea without the need of runways, assist aircrafts, costly installations or complicated procedures. The vehicle will be a pressurized 3-person habitant equipped with all the essential instrumentation for flight, navigation, communications and life-support. The vehicle will be constructed employing lightweight aircraft-grade alloys and composite materials, while the propulsion system will utilize the latest hybrid rocket technology. The Negev 5 will be launched from ground level using ILAT's own fully reusable High- Altitude Launch Platform (HALP). The concept allows the vehicle to hitchhike a free ride on a large stratospheric balloon filled with helium to its intended rocket launch altitude of 25 Km (82K ft) above mean sea level. Most of the atmospheric drag will be overcome while saving precious fuel. The HALP concept makes it possible to design a smaller, lighter and more efficient vehicle; satisfying the criteria for practical low-cost space access.

Team Data Card :
Propulsion : Pressure Fed Hybrid
Ship Name : Negev 5
Team Leader : Dov Chartarifsky
Location : Zichron Ya'akov, Israel
Launch : Vertical Ascent to Rocket Ignition Altitude
Landing : Unpowered Parachute Vertical on Water or Land

datasheet - http://www.xprize.org/pdfs/ILAT.pdf

 

this method would be ideal for launching satellites imho