spacetoday.net: X Prize contender's rocket fails

Posted: Mon, Aug 9, 2004, 12:12 PM ET (1612 GMT)
A rocket built by a team contending for the Ansari X Prize failed seconds after liftoff Sunday, dealing the effort a major setback in its bid to win the $10-million prize. Space Transport Corporation of Washington state had planned for Sunday's launch of the Rubicon 1 rocket to represent the latest milestone in the small company’s effort to win the prize. However, one rocket engine exploded on takeoff from a site overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Washington. The other engine worked briefly, sending the rocket a short distance into the air before the rocket fell apart and crashed on the shoreline. No one was injured in the mishap. Had the launch gone as planned, the rocket would have exceeded Mach 1 and flew to about 6,000 meters altitude before splashing down in the ocean. Space Transport, a company run by two young aerospace engineers, has been developed solid-propellant engines to send a simple rocket on a suborbital trajectory. The company has raised about $220,000, mostly from friends and family as well as donations from local companies. The company vows to continue developing the Rubicon even if another vehicle, such as SpaceShipOne or Wild Fire, wins the prize later this year.