Posted: Sun, Oct 3, 2004, 5:30 PM ET (2130 GMT)
The da Vinci Project, the Canadian team that until recently was competing head-to-head with Scaled Composites for the Ansari X Prize, has received a launch license from the Canadian government. Transport Canada, the Canadian equivalent of the US Department of Transportation, issued a launch license to the da Vinci tem on Friday. The license, valid through the end of October, covers two launches of da Vinci's Wild Fire vehicle form Kindersley, Saskatchewan. The project, formally called the GoldenPalace.com Space Program Powered by the da Vinci Project, had planned to conduct the first of two X Prize qualification launches from Kindersley on October 2, but delayed those plans late last month because of problems obtaining a few key components needed for the vehicle. Project leader Brian Feeney has maintained that they plan to go ahead with the launch, most likely in one to two weeks, even if the Scaled Composites team wins the prize beforehand. The second X Prize flight of SpaceShipOne is scheduled for Monday morning.

Related Links:

•  Wired News article
•  Canadian Press article
•  Transport Canada press release