?@825B, it's me again,
Just wondering if anyone in Russia was competing for the X-Prize? And if so, what happened to them?
A?0A810, Suzy
Hi Suzy,
theoretically, there was a team, called Cosmopolis-XXI, which was going to use a scheme similar to that used by Rutan. They were going to use an existing aircraft as a carrier and develop a winged spaceship, which would use solid fuel motor. Interesting enough, that they announced their plans quite early in the race, but haven't progressed very far.
The carrying aircraft was going to be "Geofizika" (M-55, if I'm not mistaken) - it has some high altitude record flights under its belt. The winged spaceship doesn't have the famous Rutan's "shuttlecock" feature and relies on the conventional thermoshield and piloting.
The last time I've heard about them was a presentation where they've shown a mock-up of their spacecraft attached to the Geofizica aircraft. I guess they couldn't agregate enough money for full-scale development.
The project for X-Price can be realized only with large private corporation. And such in Russia while are not present. For the enthusiasts will not discover money to implementation. Therefore their operation will stop on the preliminary design.
Цитировать... enthusiasts will not discover money to implementation....
And what oligarches will tell?
ЦитироватьJust wondering if anyone in Russia was competing for the X-Prize? And if so, what happened to them?
http://www.spaceadventures.com/media/info/vehicles/c21
Last time I heard about it there was some kind of conflict between the C-21 team and the military about the ownership of the M-55 carrier plane. According to the rumours the team somehow got their hands on the aircraft which was at the time either half-completed or half-destroyed. They restored it to working condition and then the military decided to take it back. :( Or something like that. Maybe someone on airbase.ru will be able to give you more details.