NewsFactor Innovation: Space Race II: Competition Heats Up

NewsFactor Innovation: On the 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, a new space race is shaping up, in which space will no longer be reserved for NASA. Private firms will compete to put humans into orbit — any maybe even on the moon.

Mike Melvill’s exo-atmospheric excursion aboard a privately developed rocket already may have accomplished the primary goal of a new-age space race by showing that governments are not the only entities that can transport people off the planet.

There is still the matter of the $10 million cash prize and trophy, however, which are to be awarded to the first team that reaches the edge of space with a three person-craft, then repeats the voyage within two weeks. Also, the problems Melvill experienced during his test-run last month open a window of opportunity for the other contestants in the Ansari X Prize competition.

“Everybody is a contender,” said Geoff Sheerin, head of team called the Canadian Arrow based in London, Ontario. Read More