Armadillo all set?

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 […]

Simonyi announcement next week

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 […]

Viva Las Cruces

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 […]

Rocket Racing League takes root in Las Cruces

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 […]

Ansari in Russia

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 […]