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The "stealth aircraft" part of the system is not part of the original rocket (I've seen the original). It had a proper nose cone and looked very much like the V2 rocket that was the design's inspiration (See here).

Besides, you have the story backwards. Canada is not looking to fly out of Ohio. Ohio is trying to enice them to come. As you noted, we have plenty of launch sites available here in the Great White North.

The Canadian Arrow doesn't use a gimballed motor. It uses graphite vanes to direct the thrust - far less moving parts, far less opportunity for failure.

Funded by Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria, they see the secret to success as a modernised liquid oxygen/alcohol rocket motor based on the German V2, which proved its reliability in over 3,000 past flights (more history via that web page). The company uses the Canadian Arrow Space Centre.

Funded by Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria, they see the secret to success as a modernised liquid oxygen/alcohol rocket motor based on the German V2, which proved its reliability in over 3,000 past flights (more history via that web page). The company uses the Canadian Arrow Space Centre.

They've done engine tests, and capsule recovery tests, and they've got plenty of signs of flight hardware. It was recently touring Chicago. These are not photoshopped pictures. The rocket is a real thing. I've seen it.

As long as youre wearing a spacesuit theres no reason why you couldn't base jump off to escape...

It's sometimes referred to as spacediving.

India is also looking at lunar and manned programs and already has launched its own satellites, etc. Private entries from the US, Canada and the UK (and other countries) can perhaps be considered separately from the goverment operations. There are now many players, some major (some declining, some expanding) and some minor (some expanding, some perhaps will never get off the ground). Exciting times ahead, I hope.

The Canadian Arrow team recently had a successful test firing of their engine. (They are the ones who set up the world's first private astronaut training centre.) The DaVinci team is likely to be the second private team into space.

Space tourism and Extreme space diving are not going to be profitable. The next phase is likely going to be a private satellite launch system. However, I could see a new "X-Prize" for private launch to low earth orbit as the next step.

What about the Canadian team that will launch in November? http://www.canadianarrow.com/

The Canadian Arrow team has put together the world's first private astronaut training centre. If they were only in it for the X-Prize, they wouldn't have built the training centre. They are looking to space tourism, and are also hoping to start a new extreme sport: Space-diving (like sky-diving, except from space).

commercial space flight?

I was wondering how they could know they would necessarily be the world's first commercial spaceflights? Although Rutan's ship has already made the flight and will almost undoubtedly take the X-prize there is another X-prize team who should soon be spaceworthy and have long been talking of turning their exploit into a commercial venture. I'm talking of the Canadian Arrow team who have, at the same time as they were getting their rocket ready for lauch been busy building a private astronaut training center, and they've also been thinking about space diving. There are also other X-prize teams looking for commercialization of space, although I don't know how close those are to launch.

Although Virgin's vehicle will be the first out there, the business itself will undoubtedly take some time to launch. They might actually be beaten to the commercial punch by other teams which have been working on the business plan of putting people in space for a profit for a while now.

commercial space flight?

I was wondering how they could know they would necessarily be the world's first commercial spaceflights? Although Rutan's ship has already made the flight and will almost undoubtedly take the X-prize there is another X-prize team who should soon be spaceworthy and have long been talking of turning their exploit into a commercial venture. I'm talking of the Canadian Arrow team who have, at the same time as they were getting their rocket ready for lauch been busy building a private astronaut training center, and they've also been thinking about space diving. There are also other X-prize teams looking for commercialization of space, although I don't know how close those are to launch.

Although Virgin's vehicle will be the first out there, the business itself will undoubtedly take some time to launch. They might actually be beaten to the commercial punch by other teams which have been working on the business plan of putting people in space for a profit for a while now.

commercial space flight?

I was wondering how they could know they would necessarily be the world's first commercial spaceflights? Although Rutan's ship has already made the flight and will almost undoubtedly take the X-prize there is another X-prize team who should soon be spaceworthy and have long been talking of turning their exploit into a commercial venture. I'm talking of the Canadian Arrow team who have, at the same time as they were getting their rocket ready for lauch been busy building a private astronaut training center, and they've also been thinking about space diving. There are also other X-prize teams looking for commercialization of space, although I don't know how close those are to launch.

Although Virgin's vehicle will be the first out there, the business itself will undoubtedly take some time to launch. They might actually be beaten to the commercial punch by other teams which have been working on the business plan of putting people in space for a profit for a while now.

The Canadian Arrow is a modified A-4/V-2 missile which incorporates some of the ideas that von Braun had for his system back in the 1940s but never was able to try before his government was no longer funding him. (He dropped the V-2 work after the late 1940s to build his next rocket, Redstone.)

Canadian Arrow spacecraft in launch configuration

V-2 systems diagram

And the interior is A-4/V-2 based as well:

Canadian Arrow engine

A-4 components during production before installation of outer skin

In addition to this, the photo of the landed return capsule is very reminiscent of the Gemini program.

CA descent capsule awaiting recovery

Gemini crew capsule awaiting recovery

What goes around comes around!

The Canadian Arrow is a modified A-4/V-2 missile which incorporates some of the ideas that von Braun had for his system back in the 1940s but never was able to try before his government was no longer funding him. (He dropped the V-2 work after the late 1940s to build his next rocket, Redstone.)

Canadian Arrow spacecraft in launch configuration

V-2 systems diagram

And the interior is A-4/V-2 based as well:

Canadian Arrow engine

A-4 components during production before installation of outer skin

In addition to this, the photo of the landed return capsule is very reminiscent of the Gemini program.

CA descent capsule awaiting recovery

Gemini crew capsule awaiting recovery

What goes around comes around!

The Canadian Arrow is a modified A-4/V-2 missile which incorporates some of the ideas that von Braun had for his system back in the 1940s but never was able to try before his government was no longer funding him. (He dropped the V-2 work after the late 1940s to build his next rocket, Redstone.)

Canadian Arrow spacecraft in launch configuration

V-2 systems diagram

And the interior is A-4/V-2 based as well:

Canadian Arrow engine

A-4 components during production before installation of outer skin

In addition to this, the photo of the landed return capsule is very reminiscent of the Gemini program.

CA descent capsule awaiting recovery

Gemini crew capsule awaiting recovery

What goes around comes around!

Since it's just as likely as not that a Canadian team won't win, what's to encourage these teams to carry on developing their space programs?

Well, the Canadian Arrow team is planning on developing an Extreme Skydiving industry.

(Yeah, yeah, I know the corollary.)

I just wanna go Spacediving.

They've been doing real world testing and refinement of their systems, including their 57,000lbf (500,000HP) propulsion system, which had its first successful test as far back as last fall. This is apparently the most powerful rocket ever tested in Canada.

They have based their tried and true aerodynamic design and some other aspects of their project on the V-2 rocket, which has (mostly in unfortunate circumstances, of course) the distinction of being the most widely used space capable rocket in history. Their team leader, Geoff Sheerin, is probably the world's foremost expert on the technical aspects of the historical V-2/A4, based on years (some predating the X-Prize) of collecting and interpreting original source documents and data, comparative analysis of museum pieces and CAD drawings, prototyping, and even consultation with surviving designers.

Perhaps more so than any of the other teams in the race, their goal is very much to create a viable business model for, as they say, "Making SPACE for you", and they have spent resources developing training equipment, facilities, and programs at the expense of necessarily being first. They're also investing considerable resources and time to ensure safe operation, ranging from splashdown to the use of experienced pilots/cosmonauts -- an approach that forces the designers and engineers to not take the same level of risk they might take if they were chancing their own lives.

That said, according to their website and other sources, they are planning to begin further testing in August and intend to launch by the end of the year. So best of luck to the teams of Sheerin, Feeney, Rutan, and any others that are moving closer! As long as everyone runs a safe program there really can't be any losers in this race -- in fact, the more ways that work, the better!

There's also the Canadian Arrow that starts test flights next month. As a Canadian myself, I'm very happy that both Canadian teams are poised to actually make attempts by the end of the year. O Canada!

It won't be for this launch, or even the next one, but hopefully Canada will soon have companies making launch vehicles:
The da Vinci Project and Canadian Arrow are showing great potential!

It's probably too late for them to win the prize, but the Canadian Arrow team just posted on their website that they're starting test flights in August. No details other than that.

I like this quote from Canadian Arrow's website:

"Although there are many different teams competing for the X PRIZE, we are all fundamentally on the same team. When one of us wins the X PRIZE, we will all become entrepreneurs and pioneers in the eyes of the world."

I can't speak for the actual participants, but I know that if I were on one of the teams I wouldn't be doing it primarily for the prize, but because I want to go to space. After all, I suspect that most of the entrants that are getting somwhere will have spent quite a bit more than the $10 million prize money by the time they get into space.

Um... sure.

Did you even LOOK at the X-prize site?

Did you count how many teams there are from each country?

Now - while one of the front contenders happens to be American: Scaled Composites, there are some teams that are making good progress that aren't (gasp!) Americans! Perish the thought!

Heck - there are even Canadian teams that have performed successful final engine design tests, and picked final flight crews: Canadian Arrow.

Re: "this continent" Not necessarily: Da Vinci and Canadian Arrow

I've been following the X-Prize competition quite closely. There are two contenders that might win the X-Prize before this year's end: ScaledComposites and CanadianArrow. I belive Burt Rutan has planned the prize's required second flight for this 13th December, just in time to celebrate one century of flight. Rutan's company seems to be the most advanced competitor (I'd bet real money they win the X-Prize), though the canadian team has that cool prospect of extreme skydiving.

I've been following the X-Prize competition quite closely. There are two contenders that might win the X-Prize before this year's end: ScaledComposites and CanadianArrow. I belive Burt Rutan has planned the prize's required second flight for this 13th December, just in time to celebrate one century of flight. Rutan's company seems to be the most advanced competitor (I'd bet real money they win the X-Prize), though the canadian team has that cool prospect of extreme skydiving.

Tourism. "To boldly go...". There are enough people out there that will pop $20k for a taste of space, considering how many pay to go to Antartica or Everest

Package Delivery. When it absolutely, positively has to be there in the next 2 hours.

As one of the X Prize contestants has already pointed out extreme skydiving.

What Carmack (Armadillo Aerospace) is proposing is to "re-invent the wheel" every month or so until the deed is done.

My money's on the Canadian Arrow. Why? The Arrow's based on the German V2 rocket - a tried and tested, 1940's design which was then quite capable of putting a 738kg payload beyond the required 100km altitude - all for the measly sum of 119600 Reichsmarks ($47,840 US in 1940 dollars). Reference:V2 Rocket.com. Trade in the payload for 3 astronauts plus gear, install parachutes to recover the main bits, and the job's done.

Scaled Composites is my second favorite. Why? Based on another tried and tested design - the Pegasus - first launched 1990. The Pegasus can put a 455kg satellite in low earth orbit (about 150 kilometers up with a net velocity of at least 7,814 m/s ) - not much of a technical breakthrough required to put 3 astronauts up a mere 100 km. Reference:Orbital Pegasus Page
Also, here's a website that has a downloadable working simulator that illustrates how Scaled Composite's design (SpaceShipOne)works: PRE-Flight Sim Homepage

The Davinci Project

And the

Canadian Arrow

I like Davinci Cause I Think Baloon Launch is a neet way around the masive amounts of fuel problem needed by most single stage rockets.

But the Arrow is more turist friendly (who wants to sit in a crampt rocket for hours while you raise to 40,000 feet)

and hey they a both Canadian...:D

Germany created and flew the first jet fighters.

True, and the first rocket fighter, the Messerschmitt Me-263 `Komet' and later the Bachem Be349 `Natter'.

Unfortunately for them, the war was almost over already.

That wasn't the problem. The problem was that Hitler was a gonzo and first prevaricated, then ordered that they be built for bombing - which they were mediocre at, rather than air defense - which they were good at. Mind you, some of the big Yank prop planes could still catch them and shoot them down with a diving start.

Commercial jets are descended from those planes.

No, commercial jets were quite different in design from the start. The British Meteor jet fighters did look quite similar to the 262. However, many of our modern rockets are descended in one way or another from the V2.

The really innovative German 'planes were the Blohm und Voss models. My personal favourites are the asymmetrical 237 and mid-engined mid-propped 192, although other models like the 111 and 170 have their own special shock value too. (-:

To follow the true path to space you must not be mislead by false hippocracy such as this eBay conspiracy. The true path lies in pioneering. Look at the golden carrot from the x-prize and true seekers of enlightment such as the armadillos and the canadian arrow. True pioneers to space.

Actually Canada's secret weapon is the Canadian Arrow which is based on the design of the V2 rocket.

Actually Canada's secret weapon is the Canadian Arrow which is based on the design of the V2 rocket.