Brian Feeney, da Vinci's team leader, told SPACE.com that it took two years to find a suitable launch site. Their search largely focused on the Saskatchewan province where mild winds make the area popular for high-altitude balloons, a crucial element in the da Vinci Project launch strategy. "89 percent of the year, this area has good winds," Feeney said, adding that Kindersley will serve as spaceport for test flights and the eventual X Prize space shot.

Feeney's team is one of 24 entries eyeing the X Prize, which calls for participants to launch three-person spaceships 62 miles (100 kilometers) into space and return them safely. Each vehicle must be capable of making the same space hop twice in two weeks. The first team to do so will snag the X Prize trophy and the $10 million purse that goes with it.

The da Vinci Project secured the permit from the Canadian Launch Safety Office, a branch of the country's Ministry of Transport, and ultimately found Kindersley to be the most fitting. X Prize officials said the Feeney's is the first team to officially obtain a launch permit for a specific site, though others have hinted at their own launch locations.

Canada's other X Prize entry Canadian Arrow, for example, plans to launch their rocket from a barge launchpad set up in one of the Great Lakes, and is running the plan past lakeside communities to secure rights of way. But, Canadian Arrow team leader Geoff Sheerin told SPACE.com, although nothing has been agreed to officially, his group is working with due diligence to secure a permit.

"The whole community is thrilled to be picked as Kindersley Space Center," Kindersley Mayor Ed Woloshyn told SPACE.com.

Woloshyn said Kindersley - which has been dubbed "Cape Kindersley" by some - is largely an agricultural community in western Saskatchewan. da Vinci Project members said the town contains most of the essential ingredients crucial to their mission, including an airport, hotels for personnel and large, flat stretches of land. "You can see for miles and miles," he added.

The da Vinci Project's flight plan calls for a giant helium balloon to hoist Wild Fire, the team's spacecraft, to an altitude of 80,000 feet (24,384 meters). Once the balloon and spaceship reach their target height, Wild Fire ignites its rocket engine and heads up into space. Passengers should experience about three and a half minutes of weightlessness before the craft reenters Earth's atmosphere. An inflatable ballute should deflect the heat of reentry and a parafoil will slow Wild Fire's descent until landing.

Although a final launch date has yet to be announced, Feeney is confident the project remains competitive with other X Prize entries. One such effort by the company Scaled Composites, led by aerospace designer Burt Rutan, rolled out its SpaceShipOne craft in April. The craft is carried into launch position by the White Knight high-altitude airplane. Scaled Composites pilots are testing the piggyback system in the skies above their home base in Mojave, California. Another X Prize bid, the Canadian Arrow in Toronto, Canada, plans to officials announce their first three astronauts, selected from hundreds of applicants, on June 26.

"[Rutan's] efforts have just pushed us that much harder," Feeney said.

In the meantime, the citizens of Kindersley eagerly await Wild Fire's launch, which they hope will be the first place a privately-built spacecraft to carry people into space.

"When you first hear about projects like this, you have to wonder if it's reality or somebody's pipe dream," said Woloshyn, adding that he would glad sign up for a space hop once the technology is affordable and reliably safe. "I've always enjoyed flying."