Apparently 26 other teams are going to compete against Rutan for the X-Prize this summer. I hope that all of them can launch sucessfully, and that NASA's days of impeding space travel are finally numbered.
There may be 26 teams but the only one who's even close to competing is Rutan. I think the vast majority of these teams are table napkin bar talk ideas.
Rutan has a working system based on basic principles. He and is patron Paul Allen will win handily.
To keep up with live pictures of Scaled Composites Tests, check here periodically:
http://www.mojavebooks.com/mhv/
Oh, sure only about 10 companies even have engineers. Fewer have hardware built, and only 3 will ever fly. And Rutan is the only one who can win this year.
Still, I can dream.
Posted by: Kevin Murphy at May 12, 2004 07:49 AMHoly Moley Kev - I think they did it!
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/rutan_flight_040513.html
Posted by: Frank Martin at May 13, 2004 06:15 PMOk, official word from mojave is they were a few miles short of the magic 50 mile number.