New Mexico Chosen for X Prize Cup Site

[Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

FYI,

Go to the MSNBC article linked below to vote on who you think will win
the X Prize.

"New Mexico Chosen for Future Rocket Fest
- Private spaceships to compete at annual X Prize Cup"
MSNBC/Space.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4952486

: The X Prize Foundation and the New Mexico Office of Space
: Commercialization are joining forces to stage the multifaceted
: X Prize Cup, a two-week-long event that allows for privately
: financed, passenger-carrying space vehicles to compete for prizes.

: At a press conference to be held later Tuesday at the State House in
: Santa Fe, N.M., Gov. Bill Richardson is set to announce that New
: Mexico has been picked as the site for the X Prize Cup. The event
: would be conducted at the Southwest Regional Spaceport during the
: same time frame each year.

: "We went through a lengthy selection process … narrowing it down to
: Florida and New Mexico. Both states provided us their best and final
: bid, and they both offered very attractive opportunities," said
: Peter Diamandis, head of the X Prize Foundation of St. Louis.

: "The New Mexico proposal was stronger, specifically on the strength
: of their financial bid," Diamandis told Space.com. "Governor
: Richardson is personally very excited about the whole space business
: and about building New Mexico into a central hub for public
: spaceflight."

: New Mexico lawmakers passed legislation for $9 million to snag the
: X Prize Cup, with additional funds later allocated.

: Tuesday's X Prize Cup site selection builds upon several recent
: developments. Earlier this month, it was announced that
: entrepreneurs Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari gave a
: multimillion-dollar contribution to the X Prize Foundation. In doing
: so, the X Prize contest for private passenger spaceflight, a
: precursor to the X Prize Cup, was renamed the Ansari X Prize
: Competition to reflect the newly established title sponsorship.

: In March, the X Prize Foundation announced a presenting sponsorship
: from Champ Car World Series, the leading open-wheel race car series.

: Diamandis said that the X Prize Cup and Public Spaceflight
: Exposition is now slated for the summer of 2005, initially working
: with the White Sands Missile Range, just outside Las Cruces, N.M.
: "It will be a couple of weeks about speed and excitement
: … technology and adventure for the whole family," he added.

: "We expect that the first X Prize Cup will actually occur in the
: summer of 2006. We have a couple of years to get the infrastructure
: in place," Diamandis said. "We're basically creating a new business
: model for the whole space business including media, sponsorships
: … and the X Prize Cup is an important part of that."

: The New Mexico Office for Space Commercialization was established in
: 1994 to promote, coordinate, develop and manage New Mexico's
: regional spaceport program. It also coordinates the promotion and
: marketing of New Mexico's space-related resources.

: According to the space commercialization office's Web site,
: selection of a spaceport in New Mexico has centered on Upham, an
: undeveloped location in southern New Mexico approximately 45 miles
: (72 kilometers) north of Las Cruces and 30 miles (48 kilometers)
: east of Truth or Consequences.

: The proposed 27-square-mile (70-square-kilometer) site is open,
: generally level range land with an average elevation of 4,700 feet
: (1,433 meters). Upham has been considered an inland low-risk site in
: all key program areas including operational performance, flight
: safety, schedule support and cost-revenue implications.

: Favorable climate, land usage and controlled air space availability
: make high-rate launch and recovery operations possible with minimal
: contingencies, the Web site explains. The proposed spaceport locale
: is globally positioned to launch to all desirable orbital
: inclinations.

: Facilities located at the spaceport would include a launch complex;
: a landing strip and aviation complex; a payload assemblies complex;
: a support facilities complex; a system development complex; and site
: and infrastructure.

: All of the Ansari X Prize teams with their privately developed
: vehicles are invited to participate for cash prizes in a competitive
: series of races, culminating in a single X Prize Cup winner.

: Space race rules

: For the X Prize Cup, teams will compete for cash prizes in each of
: the following five categories:

: * Fastest turn-around time
: * Maximum number of passengers carried in one flight
: * Total number of passengers carried during the entire X Prize Cup
:   event
: * Maximum altitude attained
: * Fastest flight time from take-off to landing

: An overall winner, based on total points scored in each competition,
: will also be chosen and awarded the X Prize Cup Trophy, which the
: winner will retain for one year.

: The Public Spaceflight Exposition is to be held in conjunction with
: the races to provide exciting, entertaining and educational
: experiences to engage and capture the interest and imagination of
: the general public.

: Realistic space experiences and a direct educational outreach to the
: public are planned, Diamandis said, to further the development of a
: space tourism market.

: "We're creating an event that has multiple things happening over two
: weeks and during a fixed period of time. There's going to be lots
: going on," Diamandis said.

: Bill Gaubatz, vice president of the X Prize Foundation, will be
: managing the X Prize Cup.

: Gaubatz is no stranger to high-flying experimental vehicles. The
: Delta Clipper-Experimental, or DC-X, was built under contract at
: McDonnell Douglas, with Gaubatz serving as the project manager
: responsible for its design and construction. The reusable rocket
: repeatedly flew from the White Sands Missile Range starting in the
: early 1990s.

--
Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>


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