MSNBC reports that the FAA will make a decision by tomorrow morning on whether Armadillo Aerospace will be allowed to participate in the Lunar Lander Challenge after reviewing data from a test flight Thursday at the airport. The test flight (which, unfortunately, I missed seeing in person) went well, although Armadillo’s Quad vehicle tipped over on landing (but avoided any damage). With no news about Micro-Space, it appears Armadillo will be the only competitor in the competition this year—assuming all goes well with the FAA.

Update: MSNBC has updated their article with the news that the FAA has approved Armadillo’s flights for the challenge.

The press release isn’t on the Space Adventures web site, but the company sent out a notice Thursday that the company will be holding a press conference in Seattle next Thursday, the 26th, to formally announce that Charles Simonyi, the former Microsoft executive, will be the next orbital space tourist. According the the release, the press conference will discuss “Details on why the software developer and architect of Microsoft Word and Excel is going to space, his launch date and planned activities while at the International Space Station.” Simonyi will be at the press conference at the Museum of Flight, along with Space Adventures’ Eric Anderson and museum president Bonnie Dunbar (a former astronaut). As noted here earlier this week, Russian officials have already said that Simonyi will fly to the ISS on the next Soyuz taxi flight in April 2007.

I’m sitting in my hotel room in Las Cruces right now, getting ready for the day’s events. Officially there’s not much on the schedule: there is an “Executive Summit” today in Las Cruces, but the organizers have put a “No Media Allowed” sign on the clubhouse door. (Which is a shame, since the summit agenda looks interesting, although I can understand their desire to promote a more open discussion environment without attendees worrying that their every word will be broadcast to the world. The event does have a high-powered lineup, including speeches by Mike Griffin and Marion Blakey and a dinner address by former VP Al Gore, although hopefully he’ll give something other than his An Inconvenient Truth slide show.) I’ll be spending part of the day at the airport, checking out preparations there, including Armadillo Aerospace’s attempts to win approval from the FAA for their Lunar Lander Challenge flights.

Some miscellaneous notes from Las Cruces:

• Alan Boyle reports on the “coopetition” that exists among the many commercial spaceports under development. Yes, these spaceports are competing with one another to lure suborbital spaceflight companies, but are also looking ahead to point-to-point suborbital travel and interoperability issues.
• More discussion from New Scientist and SPACE.com about proper etiquette for future space tourists. And, yes, the issue of sex in space comes up.
• New Mexico State University has adopted the X Prize Cup, to some degree, as its homecoming theme this weekend. The “Countdown to Xcellence” theme, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports, “honors the region’s role in space development and the future of interstellar travel, since it coincides with this weekend’s X Prize competition.” (Interstellar travel?) NMSU takes on the Univ. of Hawaii in the homecoming football game Saturday night, if you’re looking for something to do after Saturday’s cup events.
• File this under Rock(ets) and Roll(ing Stones): On my flight from Dallas to El Paso I noticed a number of people wearing Rolling Stones shirts and jackets. It turns out they’re part of the staff for the Stones’ concert tour, which rolls into El Paso Friday night at the Sun Bowl. Just in case all the events of both days of the X Prize Cup aren’t enough excitement for you…

The Rocket Racing League (RRL) won’t have anything flying at the X Prize Cup, but they are getting grounded in a good way in Las Cruces. The company reported that the Las Cruces City Council unanimously approved the sale of 69.34 hectares (171.35 acres) of land near the airport for the company’s headquarters and industrial park. RRL plans to break ground for a 4,640-square-meter (50,000-square-foot) headquarters by November 2007, and will provide land for “industries that support the League”. RRL will also have 10 hangars at the airport and a smaller R&D facility on the New Mexico State University campus.

Also, on Friday during the X Prize Cup the RRL will announce the name for the first X-Racer, the result of a competition run by the league.

While Anousheh Ansari is scheduled to be in Las Cruces for the Wirefly X Prize Cup, she first paid a visit to Russia, attending a ceremony in Russia to commemorate her recent flight to the ISS. She said that Russia now held a special place in her heart, alongside Iran and the United States. She also said that she’d like to return to space at some point in the future, and wished her flight last month had lasted longer. “The only thing that keeps bringing me back to Earth is my family,” she said. “If I could have taken them up there with me, I probably would have just stayed forever.” She also hinted that she is interested in funding a future X Prize competition for a lunar lander (a real one, not the analogs that compete for NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge).

If you will be in the Dallas area on November 2nd, you have a chance to meet her at an event hosted by the Frontiers of Flight Museum. Admission costs $15, and includes a presentation by Ansari and a reception afterwards, “including an opportunity for guests to personally meet Ansari”.