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MULTIMEDIA: The New Space Race Compete, cooperate or get grounded, a new multimedia adventure!> Image Gallery

Space Tourism: The Early Years Dennis Tito was the first paying customer to go to space.> Image Gallery

Showtime for Spaceship Builders Those caught in the whirlwind of the personal spaceflight business—the builders, shakers, dreamers and schemers—will be found this month at the Wirefly X Prize Cup, set for October 20-21 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.> Read More

Virgin Galactic Unveils SpaceShipTwo Interior Concept NEW YORK – Future passengers aboard Virgin Galactic spaceliners can look forward to cushioned reclining seats and lots of windows during suborbital flights aboard SpaceShipTwo, a concept interior of which was unveiled by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson Thursday. > Read More

Space Elevator: Hoist to the Heavens Next month’s X Prize Cup will host the Space Elevator Games, an unprecedented challenge for today’s engineers looking at ways to alter the future of access to space.> Read More

X Prize Cup to Host NASA's Lunar Lander Challenge The future will take to the skies over New Mexico next month as teams compete in the Lunar Lander Challenge sponsored by NASA under their Centennial Challenges program.> Read More

	Wide Range of Rocket Tech for Civilian Spaceflight A new era of human spaceflight is upon is, and its shapers say it will be cheaper, safer and aimed at the masses. > Read More

	Rocket Racing League: Spreading Its Wings When the gates open on the X Prize Cup next month at the Las Cruces International Airport, New Mexico, visitors will get a first-hand feel for a new type of super-slick speedster—the rocket racer. > Read More

	Sky High Plans For UP Aerospace Momentum is picking up in staging the X Prize Cup, to be held October 20-21 at the Las Cruces International Airport, New Mexico. > Read More

	Boeing's Thermal Protection System For Orion Spacecraft The best protection against high heat flux is an ablative heat shield. The extreme heat of reentry causes the material to pyrolize - the chemical decomposition of a material by heating in the absence of oxygen. As the PICA chars, melts and sublimates, it creates a cool boundary layer through blowing, protecting the spacecraft. > Read More

	Project Orion: NASA's Next Spaceship Takes Shape The pieces are coming together for NASA’s next spaceship Orion as space agency engineers begin working with lead contractor Lockheed Martin to shape the vehicle’s cockpit. > Read More

	Australian Scramjet Screams Skyward An experiment in harnessing scramjet technology for future space transportation systems was flown last weekend by the University of Queensland. > Read More

	New Light Detector Could Allow Broadband in Space MIT researchers have developed a tiny light detector that could one day boost interplanetary communications to broadband speeds. > Read More

	Research Warps into Hyperdrive Take one part high-frequency gravitational wave generation, then add in a quantum vacuum field. > Read More

	Keeping Cool: Europe Adapts Spacesuit Tech for Work on Earth European engineers are adapting the same cooling systems used inside those spacesuits to aid firefighters, steelworkers and others who face scorching temperatures daily on Earth. > Read More

	Satellites That Bleed: The Future of Self-Healing Spacecraft Space can be an unforgiving environment for elderly satellites, with temperature extremes, tiny rocks and other hazards threatening to breach spacecraft hulls. > Read More

	X Prize Foundation Sets Draft Rules for Lunar Lander Challenge The X Prize Foundation is seeking public comment on draft rules for a lunar lander contest set for later this year. > Read More

	Suborbital Rocketship Fleet to Carry Tourists Spaceward in Style With a fleet of rocketships and two spaceports on the way, a private space tourism firm is taking passenger spaceflight to the next level. > Read More

	'Antigravity' Propulsion System Proposed An 'antigravity' propulsion system will be proposed at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF) in Albuquerque on Febuary 14 by Dr. Franklin Felber. > Read More

	Skiing That Soft Lunar Powder In the past year, the US, India, China, Japan and the European Space Agency have all made plans to head to the moon sometime in the next two decades. An recent NASA article has valuable tips from Apollo astronauts on an alternative means of lunar travel first suggested by science fiction writer Robert Heinlein - namely, skiing. > Read More

	New Mexico: Building A Better Spaceport With a projected $225 million being spent to create a "purpose-built" spaceport near Upham, New Mexico—expected to be completed by 2009-2010—for many of the principals involved there remains but one question: what is a 21st century spaceport supposed to look like? > Read More

	E-Weapons: Directed Energy Warfare In The 21st Century LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico -- There is a new breed of weaponry fast approaching—and at the speed of light no less. They are labeled "directed-energy weapons" and may well signal a revolution in military hardware—perhaps more so than the atomic bomb. > Read More

	USAF Ready For Space Wars Game The US Air Force has just put out a request for proposal for a "Gaming and Training Environment for Counter Space Operations." In other words, they're ready for Ender's Game. Or maybe Space Wars. > Read More

	Microbot Madness: Hopping Toward Planetary Exploration The success of NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity has scored high points for the wheeled automatons, but another plan may one day have their robotic successors hopping. > Read More

	Japan Considers Plans for Homegrown Spacesuit TOKYO (AP) – Japan's space agency said Wednesday it is considering developing its own space suit that can be used in future manned space projects. > Read More

	Space Tourism Firm Unveils Orbital Spacecraft Concept A space tourism group developing a suborbital rocket ship is now talking aim at orbital trips with a new spacecraft that doubles as a hypersonic glider. > Read More

	NASA Sets Centennial Challenges to Boost Robotic Space Exploration NASA announced two new cash prizes Friday, each with a weighty $250,000 purse, in a pair of contests aimed at developing robotic systems for space exploration. > Read More

	Robotic Space Spiders To Crawl Sub-Orbital Web Space 'spiders', small robots able to crawl along mesh webbing, will be tested during a joint mission with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, the European Space Agency and the Vienna University of Technology. > Read More

	Former X Prize Rivals Announce Partnership Two former rocketeer rivals are teaming up to develop privately-built spacecraft, officials with both groups said Friday. > Read More

	Sky Trek To The 'Near Space' Neighborhood Near Space is a region where few aircraft can tread. Floating high above the jet stream, lighter-than-air ships are now deemed as a way to loiter at length. They appear ideal for keeping tabs on a foe’s troops or delivering telecommunications services to your own warriors. > Read More

	The International Space Station So Far: Five Years of Service, But Incomplete The International Space Station (ISS) hit a milestone for human spaceflight Wednesday, marking five years of continuous human habitation in Earth orbit. > Read More

	Riding a Beam of Light: NASA's First Space Elevator Competition Proves Highly Challenging MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - After three days of grueling competition and friendly shoulder-to-shoulder innovation, over $100,000 in prize money remained in the vault at the close of the Space Elevator Games - the premier event of NASA's new X-Prize-styled series of Centennial Challenges. > Read More

	Russia's Next Spaceship: Alternative to NASA's CEV Russia's plan calls for a six-person Clipper spacecraft that would be hauled to the International Space Station by a tug. > Read More

	NASA, Air Force Team Up on Next Generation Rocket Engine A next-generation liquid-fuel engine being jointly developed by NASA, the U.S. Air Force and two prime aerospace contractors is scheduled to resume testing after being temporarily suspended due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. > Read More

	New Heatshield Design Tests Europe and Russian Researchers The European Space Agency, in collaboration with the Russian company Lavochkin, are designing an inflatable cone-shaped raft that can float precious cargo down to Earth from space without the disadvantages of traditional forms of heat shielding. > Read More

	SpaceShipOne Donated to Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum WASHINGTON (AP) – The first private space ship took its place Wednesday next to Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, praised by its designer as a symbol of a new era of space tourism alongside the icon of trans-Atlantic flight. > Read More

	NASA's Lunar Vision: The Devil's in the Details In some quarters, NASA’s vision of exploration is an anti-doldrums undertaking for the agency. Yet the plan is rife with technical issues that need resolution. Others suggest that the strategy is dead on arrival, or is sketchy at best. > Read More

	Rocket Racing: New League Promotes High-Flying Contest NEW YORK -- Traffic cops beware, there’s a whole new league of speed demon in town. > Read More

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