X-Prize Teams: ARCA and American Astronautics Corp.

X-Prize in the Bay Area: in January, Erik Lindbergh (the grandson of Charles Lindbergh) visited the Chabot Space and Science Center to gather donations towards the X-Prize efforts. The Chabot center is hoping to stage an exhibit to present the stories of the competing X-Prize teams. In this edition of the 'Clips we are bringing you two new teams in the competition.

ARCA

This team is based in Valcea, Romania, and is led by Dimitru Popescu. Their Orizont vehicle is designed traditionally to try to ensure a high reliability and low production cost. The vehicle has an overall length of 14 meters (46 feet), a diameter of 1.4 meters (4.6 feet), and weighs 7,000 kg (15,430 pounds). It will take-off vertically and accelerates to a speed of about 1,300 m/s. At 40,000 m the engine is designed to shut down, and the vehicle will continue to coast to an altitude above 100 km. The acceleration will be no greater than 3.5G. The crew capsule separates from the launch vehicle at an altitude of 80 km. The Orizont vehicle will separate into two separated pieces (the rocket and the capsule) for its return to Earth, both having parachute recovery systems deploying at an altitude of 4 km, and are planned to splash down at sea. Helicopters will recover both the capsule and rocket, the occupants of the capsule staying in the vehicle until the helicopter has transported the capsule to the land.

Last September the team unveiled its 1:2.5 scale flight demonstrator. The first reaction chamber and nozzle for the Demonstrator 2 vehicle was completed in December, and is the first European monopropellant rocket engine integrally constructed from composite materials. The tests with this engine will start in January 2004. ARCA unveils its 1:2.5 scale flight demonstrator, which they plan to launch soon. Their Web site is at www.arcaspace.ro.

Dimitru is quoted as saying: "We consider the X PRIZE competition a new space race, even though this time the prize in not the Moon. It will open access to space for all of us, forever. Because of that, this competition is the most challenging competition ever addressed to private industry in astronautics. People all over the world are passionate about astronautics. Like all competitors, we are convinced that they want to feel what it's like to go into space and what it feels like to ride on a rocket. All those people deserve to have a chance to feel all of those things, and the X PRIZE will offer them this opportunity. Sub-orbital flights are nothing new; remember Mercury missions or the X-15 program. It is obviously possible to fulfill the X PRIZE competition tasks. We are proud to compete for the X PRIZE. We are honored to take part in this adventure."

American Astronautics Corp.

The American Astronautics Corp. is based in Oceanside, California, and is led by Bill Sprague. It is described as being a group of seasoned 'low cost launch vehicle' designers, builders, testers, and launchers of simple, pressure fed, reusable space launch vehicles which follow the Minimum-Cost-To-Flight philosophy. Their ship, The Spirit of Liberty, is a logical step on the way to the commercial space tourism vehicle that Sprague is planning, that would be capable of carrying 30 passengers. Their X-Prize vehicle will weigh about 10,000 pounds and have an engine producing some 20,000 pounds of thrust. The rocket is 3 feet in diameter and some 42 feet long, being launched vertically from land, and is designed for a horizontal landing, utilizing a parafoil to land back at the launch site. Their Web site is at www.americanastronautics.com.

Sprague is quoted as saying: "The X Prize evidences that the spirit of exploration and that of competition originate from the same root-it draws upon the fundamental element of mankind, to further that which separates us from all other elements; that unnatural selection which draws us out to all reaches of the imagination. Indeed, as a species, we are driven to understand, to know, to touch all that we define as Universe. And such as that is, we must reach the stars and possess them. So early in process, this must ultimately be effort of not governments, but as mankind's common goal of existence. The X Prize Foundation serves as the single Center of Gravity with focus on these ends."

Return to Index

All content is the responsibility of LUNAR. If you have comments or suggestions regarding these web pages, please contact the