The Reno Air Races are about to be upstaged as the high-speed event of the year if some wily entrepreneurs and the State of New Mexico have their way. Following on the success of the $10 million Ansari X Prize, captured by Burt Rutan and company with the Space Ship One last fall, New Mexico officials and some very influential advocates yesterday launched the X Prize Cup, a new annual event that will pit the new breed of commercial manned rockets in a competition for prizes and publicity for their commercial passenger-carrying ventures. The plan for this year is a bit more tame, featuring a symposium, education day, public expo with static displays of rockets, engine firings, drop tests and model rocket launches.
Diane Murphy, spokeswoman for the X Prize Foundation, appearing here yesterday with Erik Lindbergh, grandson of Charles Lindbergh, Vern Rayburn and other successful entrepreneurs from the state, hopes the second annual event will be quite more dynamic however, with as many as seven rocket-makers from around the world bringing their wares to a planned regional spaceport in New Mexico to actually race. Murphy says prizes are yet to be announced, but given the bankroll of billionaire sponsors like Google’s Larry Page, it could be well worth the effort. “Think of it as a cross between Champ Grand Prix racing, the America’s Cup and the Olympics,” says Murphy. —Mike Vines and John Croft
