Cambridge N-Prize Team To Build Balloon-Assisted Rockets

Posted by timothy on Sunday July 27, 2008 @08:19AM from the view-is-great-from-up-here dept.

Rob Goldsmith writes "Earlier this week we heard that Cambridge University Spaceflight would be entering the N-Prize competition. The N-Prize is a competition to stimulate innovation directed towards obtaining cheap access to space. Most importantly, the launch budget must be within £999.99. Cambridge University Spaceflight plan to win the prize using a balloon and a rocket. They have now opened up an official forum where the public can track their progress." The linked story has images from a test flight of July 23, and an interview with a member of the team, Ed Moore.

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What is the point of this N-Prize? by tftp · 2008-07-27 09:20 · Score: 0, Redundant

The requirements ask for lifting a 20g "satellite" (I'd call it a "space junk" instead). What could be the value of such a construct? More importantly, what value the humanity can obtain from building a super-cheap and super-unreliable launch vehicle that has a 20g payload? This N-Prize should be seen as a joke.