WASHINGTON -- An entry in the X Prize contest for jump-starting suborbital passenger flight is moving closer to its first test hop.
A full-scale engineering replica of the Canadian Arrow rocket is making the rounds at several air shows, earning its fair share of ogle time from rubbernecking crowds.
Standing on its tail, the rocket is 6 stories tall and on display June 22-24 at the London Ontario Airshow and Balloon Festival in Canada, fresh from its appearance last week, June 16-17, at the Hamilton International Air Show in Hamilton, Ontario.
Vintage V-2
Canadian Arrow team leader Geoffrey Sheerin told SPACE.com that the display vehicle is made of the same materials -- steel and aluminum -- to be used in constructing the actual flight vehicle. The design resembles the German V-2 rocket of the 1940s, but is topped by a three-person, passenger-carrying section.
"One advantage to the Canadian Arrow design is the simplicity of transport and preparation for launch. We are presently constructing a trailer and launch stand for the actual flight vehicle and needed a full-scale mockup to use on the transport for training purposes," Sheerin said. One of the advantages of the V-2 tail design is ease of transport by rail or truck, he said.
Sheerin said by building the full-scale model of the Canadian Arrow, team members are determining best placement of components and wiring for use in the actual vehicle.
Next stage
The Canadian Arrow team expects to have two 57,000-pound thrust engines and flight tank systems built by the end of 2001, then tested early 2002.
"Upon the completion of these tests and receiving the final sponsorship required, the Canadian Arrow team will go after the X Prize in the summer of 2003," Sheerin said. "We have already started the launch approval process with the appropriate Canadian authorities and hope to gain permission next year to launch from the Churchill Launch Range in northern Manitoba," he said.
$10 million 'Soar' prize
The Canadian Arrow is one of 20 private teams around the globe vying for an X Prize purse of $10 million.
To win, a team must build and fly a reusable spacecraft able to carry three persons to suborbital space, 62 miles (100 kilometers), and back. X Prize entrants must also demonstrate reusability of their spacecraft by flying twice within a two-week period.
The X prize competition is modeled on the Orteig Prize, won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927. More than 100 aviation incentive prizes were offered between 1905 and 1935, a concept that helped put in motion today's $300 billion commercial air transport industry.
"It's really exciting to see this full-scale mockup. You start to realize the scale of these ships," said Gregg Maryniak, X Prize Foundation executive director, based in St. Louis. "It gets your blood going. Humans are very visual so when you see something on a one-to-one scale, it speaks to you."
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