Countdown to the Cup Presentation to the COMSTAC 26 October 2005

The X-PRIZE Cup  Annual version of the X PRIZE, designed to spur space flight technology advances Hybrid of Reno Air Races, Indianapolis 500, and NASCAR – except with rockets  Provides a market, in the form of prize purses Extends the successful model of the Ansari X PRIZE to smaller competitions  Based in New Mexico, eventually to be held at the Southwest Regional Spaceport

Countdown to the Cup  A bridge from today to the Cup This year held at the Las Cruces International Airport LCIA will be the venue for at least the next year  Designed to maintain the momentum from Ansari X-PRIZE event of last year Competition and competitors still being defined Rocket Racers a definite part of future Cup

Planned Countdown Content  Exhibits from Cup Participants, aerospace companies, NASA, educational organizations, and X-PRIZE Foundation  Flight events 3 Tripoli sounding rocket flights (unmanned) 3 Armadillo vertical takeoff and landing hover demonstrations (unmanned) 2 E-Z Rocket flights (manned) F-117 flyby Hot air balloon Weather balloons  Starchaser LOX/kerosene engine static fire

Event Day  Exhibits and stage show were a big hit  XCOR E-Z Rocket was the main flight attraction  Armadillo VTVL rocket flew only once, but went on display and was a big hit  Winds prevented any of the Tripoli rockets from flying  Starchaser static fire had a bit of a problem

The Stage

The Show Grounds

Sights on the Ground and in the Air

SS-1 Replica

The XCOR EZ Rocket

“Mission Control” – the Flight Ops Tent

How We Did  Somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 attended the event  Nationwide media attention for essentially a local event  The crowd praised the event Kids in particular got hooked Minor inconveniences and annoyances aside, a good time was had by all  State of New Mexico, City of Las Cruces both very happy  Sponsors for next time around very happy

For Next Year  Major round of “lessons learned” underway  Plan starting NOW!  So far: Two day event as hedge against weather Different weekend, to avoid event conflicts Don’t close airport! Etc...

A Special Thanks to AST  Patti Smith provided the focus to get the Waiver and Certificate of Authorization process on track Brought order out of chaos  AST personnel worked long hours with XPF, Tripoli, and New Mexico to ensure safety of flight for sounding rockets Became indispensable part of a tight-knit team  On behalf of the X PRIZE Foundation, thank you