Will the X-Cup be a commercial success?

His answer:

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From: Franklin Ratliff
To: Sigurd
Posted: Wed Apr 28, 2004 5:10 pm
Subject: Re: Hey
Message understood.
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But more than proof anough.. he's ignoring it.

excellent. i was going to put up a poll on who thinks he should be banned, but on second thought i won't bother, since the majority is overwhelmingly in favor of it. now the question, do i send the email, or do you? and do you want to ask for moderation rights too, not necessarily to ban people just to edit and/or delete posts?

I sent already an e-mail yesterday to the admin.. telling him about Franklin Ratliff.. It may take a few days before he actually responds and bans him.
I've only told something about him.. maybe I can send a request for moderators in the future (again).

oh, ok. ahead of me there, lol. i definitely think mods is a good idea.

back to the topic, the various cup races of the early 20th century were commercial successes, in inovation, in revenue to the companies produc9ng the aircraft, and for the paying audience who saw the races. the modern x prize cup as far as i think will generate just as much if not more success. the 1 time I saww a shuttle launch in 1999 the roads were packed, beaches were packed, seemed everyone wanted to see it. and it was at 6 am a competition with lots of launches I would think would generate large crowds

Just a thought, but doesn't the intention of the xprize contradict the success of the xprize cup?

The xprize is attempting to make access to space an everyday occurence. But if there are rockets (or space planes) launching to space every week or so, doesn't this reduce the level of interest that would be shown to the xprize cup?

The cup should be held somewhere that doesn't see space launches, like New Zealand.

I would think it would complement it, with the goals being the fasted turn around or the most passengers, or the highest height, it will allow other teams that may have a better design to compete and to show that they are not only as good but possibly better the nthe xprize winner, which just happens to be first. as a cometition with people coming to see it, you would want an isolated place, for mishaps, but close enough to general populations to bring in the fans.

I think that launches every week would actually increase interest in the x-prize cup.

Several years ago I heard some history about the early days of the automotive industry and I was surprised to learn how important races were to the fledgling companies. Winning a race actually substantially impacted the profitability of the company building the car.

Private manned spaceflights will only become common if they start to be profitable. If they are profitable, there will be enormous pressure on companies to distinguish themselves. The x-cup could have a lot of influence -- both on public opinion (bringing that company money from ticket sales) and on investors. But this won't happen until space flights become more common (right now we're at zero). I think that is may be more practical to have a second x-prize (in say 3 years), and then start the x-cup once there are a few more companies with actual successful spacecraft.

Yes, eventually when space flight is very very common, like regular flight is now, the x-cup will probably not be very influential. But in an emerging industry, it has great potential.

I do think there are timing issues that need to be looked at. If space flight is too common, the x-cup is not important (we don't need to worry about this possibility because it is the goal). If space flight is not common enough, there may also be problems with the x-cup.

NEWSFLASH, Sherlocks. The goal of the X Cup IS making spaceflight "too common." If spaceflight is "too common" the X Cup WILL have achieved its goal of no longer having a point.