Beyond the Ansari X Prize

As the involvement and development of the commercial space indus­try continues to move forward and expand, many new ideas and designs are being introduced to the public. Even NASA has gotten into the spirit of public and commercial spaceflight. In 2005, the agency announced the first two cash prizes in a series called Centennial Challenges: the space tether and beam-power challenges,
which are both the components needed to build an elevator to space. In 2006, the less obscure lunar lander challenge was added, and other challenges soon followed.

NASA has partnered with the X Prize Foundation to run some of the Centennial Challenges during the annual X Prize Cup. Figure 10.3 shows the lunar lander of John Carmack’s Armadillo Aerospace, a team that had competed for the Ansari X Prize, whose amazing demonstration missed winning the challenge in 2006 by the slimmest of margins.

The X Prize Cups are a cross between air shows and space expos, where companies show off and, in some cases, even demonstrate many of the latest and greatest ideas. One of the big attractions is the Rocket Racing League, which is still in development.

Sean D. Tucker, a champion aerobatic pilot who is looking forward to flying in the league, said, “It is going to be very similar to a Red Bull course except longer and higher, and I think there are going to be milestones in the sky and altitudes you have to hit in the sky as well and then come back down. I think it is going to be a truly three-dimensional course, They’re working with the technology now to have heads-up displays where you can see the virtual course in the air.” Figure 10.4 shows a prototype rocket racer.

As recently as 2001, Dennis Tito became the first paying space tourist, flying to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz. Since then, four others have made this $20 million, or more, journey. In 2006, Anousheh Ansari was doing research based upon
this type of spaceflight for a venture she was involved with. She said, “I was looking into it to find out what type of training was really required if we were to commercialize orbital flights. Do people real­ly need six months of training and all these things? The best way to find out was to go through the program. I started training as a back­up. But three weeks before the flight the primary crewmember got ill. He failed one of his medical tests. And that’s when they said, ‘Well, if you want to go, you can go. You can take that seat now.’ And I just couldn’t say no to that.”

Figure 10.5 shows Ansari floating about in the International Space Station. She skipped over suborbital entirely and went straight to orbital. With Ansari’s support, she helped open the door to space a

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Fig. 10.5. Space tourism began in 2001 when Dennis Tito rocketed to the International Space Station in a Russian Soyuz. In 2006, Anousheh Ansari joined the handful of people who have made this same journey. At between $20 million and $40 million, this ticket is out of reach from most people.

But a growing number of entrepreneurs are recognizing that there is not just a desire for space but a demand for space. Prodea Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Used under permission of Prodea Systems, Inc.

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little wider for the rest of the public. This unexpected opportunity for her was well deserved.

One of the bigger prizes still out there is the $50 million America’s Space Prize announced in 2004 by Bigelow Aerospace, which is an orbital version of the Ansari X Prize. In 2007, the X Prize Foundation raised the ante, not in terms of money but in terms of miles. Partnering with Google, the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize will have teams compete to land on the Moon. This is a
one-way ride, though. No self-replicating, carbon-based life forms are required for the trek. But before orbital or lunar spaceflights get going for the public, there is still another race on for suborbital flights. About a dozen companies are currently developing suborbital spacecraft, several of which were Ansari X Prize competitors, like Starchaser and the da Vinci Project. The truth is, there is an enormous amount of activity behind the scenes as well as on center stage.