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X-Prize Cup Site Chosen: New Mexico
savuporo writes "MSNBC reports: "The X Prize Foundation and the New Mexico Office of Space Commercialization are joining forces to stage the multifaceted X Prize Cup, a two-week-long event that allows for privately financed, passenger-carrying space vehicles to compete for prizes.' The first Cup is expected to be held summer, 2006, while 2005 will probably see a 'Public Spaceflight Exposition.'"
In order to launch you need an FAA license, which includes a safety review.
> They are attempting to start their 'space business' by putting 20 or 30 people in space at a time, when they should really start out slow for safety's sake. What's going to happen if these companies rush to put massive numbers of people in space, forgetting about safety and we have another Challenger or Columbia, but this time with civilians, and more of them? The industry really needs to slow down, or else we are in for a terrible tragedy.
As far as I've seen so far, none of the X Prize contestants are planning on carrying anywhere near 20-30 people. Indeed, I believe the plan is to stick with one person at a time (or unmanned, in the case of Armadillo Aerospace), scaling up to the three required for the X Prize when they're confident in the hardware.
Teams competing for the X-Prize ARE starting out small. The spaceship required to win the competition only needs to carry 3 people. The competition can be won by a ship carrying only one pilot and ballast representing the other two passengers.
As far as I know, Scaled Composites is the only team carrying out manned tests of their vehicle so far. They're following a careful test program, slowly expanding their flight envelope, and are taking no unnecessary risks.
For another team's perspective, check Armadillo's website for a great log of all the testing and refining they've been doing while developing their rocket.
Bottom line: The teams with a shot at winning are not jumping into rocketry without careful attention to safety. No one wants to see fatalities or explosions of any kind - they're bad for business.