Armadillo Aerospace

Last updated

Armadillo Aerospace
Type Privately held
Industry Aerospace
Founded2000
Founder John Carmack
Fateout of business
Successor Exos Aerospace [1]
Headquarters Mesquite, Texas
Key people
John Carmack
ProductsRocket vehicles/Space Tourism
Website www.armadilloaerospace.com

Armadillo Aerospace was an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal was to build a crewed suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, [2] and it had also stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack, [3] co-founder and former chief technical officer of id Software.

Contents

On October 24, 2008, Armadillo won $350,000 by succeeding in the Level 1 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. On September 12, 2009, Armadillo won $500,000 by succeeding in Level 2 of the same challenge. [4] [5] [6]

In 2010, they signed an exclusive deal with Space Adventures. Armadillo Aerospace was to provide a suborbital rocket to fly tourists into space, while Space Adventures would sell tickets for the experience. [7] [8]

In August 2013, Carmack announced that Armadillo Aerospace had been put in "hibernation mode", following setbacks including the crash of the STIG-B rocket in January 2013. [9]

In May 2014, several former employees of Armadillo Aerospace formed a new company, Exos Aerospace, which was created to carry their former company's research into reusable commercial spacecraft. The new company set up their operations in one of Armadillo's former facilities at the Caddo Mills Municipal Airport, in Texas. [10] Exos completed acquisition of Armadillo assets in early 2015, and intended to begin launches of the Suborbital Active Rocket with Guidance (SARGE) in 2016 from Spaceport America in New Mexico. SARGE will be an enhanced Armadillo STIG-B. [11] The first flight of SARGE took place in 2018 from Spaceport America.

In September 2017, John Carmack retweeted a post about SpaceX rocket bloopers, along with his post "I showed all of our crashes at the beginning of Armadillo Aerospace, but everyone thought it was a terrible idea and talked me out of it." In the comment section, one person asked if there's chance of comeback for Armadillo Aerospace. He subsequently replied that there is the chance that he might "want to try at some point" with his own scheme, giving a sign that Armadillo Aerospace could someday return from hibernation mode. [12]

Research and development principles

Captive test flight of Armadillo Aerospace's Pixel rocket before the 2006 X-Prize Cup. Armadillo Aerospace Pixel Hover.jpg
Captive test flight of Armadillo Aerospace's Pixel rocket before the 2006 X-Prize Cup.

The company placed a strong emphasis on a rapid build and test cycle. Armadillo Aerospace designed and built more than 12 vehicles which used about 50 engine designs for over 100 rocket flights. [13] Each design had several features in common. One was the use of modern computer technologies and electronics to simplify rocket control and reduce development costs. Another was the use of liquid propellants and VTVL to facilitate short launch-to-launch times.[ citation needed ]

Prize competitions

X-Prize competition

The company was a competitor for the Ansari X-Prize. Armadillo's X-Prize vehicle was unorthodox among modern rockets in that instead of using stabilization fins, which complicate the design and increase drag, Armadillo used an aerodynamically unstable design, where the computer controlled jet vanes based on feedback from fibre optic gyroscopes.[ citation needed ] Armadillo stated a preference for simplicity and reliability over performance, which was evident in its choice[ when? ] of hydrogen peroxide (50% concentration in water) and methanol as a mixed monopropellant for the vehicle. A monopropellant-based engine requires only a single tank as well as greatly simplified plumbing and other hardware.[ citation needed ]

Wirefly X-Prize Cup 2006

Pixel attempting level 1. White tanks are insulated and contain liquid oxygen, grey tanks contain ethanol ArmadilloAerospace Pixel Attempt1 c.jpg
Pixel attempting level 1. White tanks are insulated and contain liquid oxygen, grey tanks contain ethanol

Armadillo Aerospace competed in the 2006 X PRIZE Cup. Armadillo Aerospace was the only competitor in the Lunar Lander Challenge. The company took two similar vehicles, Pixel and Texel, to the event. The vehicles narrowly failed to win the Level 1 prize, after making three dramatic attempts totalling over 5 minutes in the air, [14] finally crashing out on the final attempt. Persistent landing problems were the main cause of failure, with the undercarriage breaking several times, and landing slightly off the pad on one occasion due to guidance difficulties. These flights were a highlight of the Wirefly X-prize cup.

Quad vehicle

The quad vehicle design is pressure-fed in blow down mode from an initial pressure of 320 psi for level 1 (400 psi level 2). The roll thrusters are cross-fed by gas drawn from ullage space of the opposite tank. The vehicle is able to transfer propellant through connecting pipes between opposite tanks by controlling ullage pressures with the thrusters; this helps it balance, minimizing gas use. The main engine has two-axis thrust vectoring. The vehicle is fully computer controlled; with guidance from GPS and fiber optic gyroscopes.[ citation needed ]

Wirefly X-Prize Cup 2007

Armadillo Aerospace competed in the 2007 Lunar Lander Challenge event in the Wirefly X-Prize Cup 2007.

Testing

During testing one of the two Quad vehicles (named Texel) crashed on a tethered flight after a guidance problem caused the vehicle to rapidly gain altitude until 3 separate flight termination procedures were activated at approximately 20–30 feet. The vehicle fell, and the impact broke open one of the alcohol tanks and a large fireball engulfed the vehicle. [15] The vehicle was irreparably damaged, and only its sister Pixel could compete in the upcoming event. The plan was to have the first module (of the next generation modular design) compete at level 1, and have Pixel compete at level 2 challenge. [16]

Competition

In the level 1 events, Armadillo's craft MOD (actually, module #1) logged several attempts, including several successful first leg flights but was unable to complete the return trip during any attempt.[ citation needed ]

On its first attempt, a clogged igniter orifice prevented ignition. On the second attempt, the first leg flight was perfect; increased guidance and control capabilities allowed the module to, in Carmack's words, 'burn the X-mark off the target pad'. The return leg was delayed slightly, because the igniter had clogged again. When the second leg was attempted, a 'hard start' cracked the graphite combustion chamber. As the vehicle was still flying, Carmack flew the crippled vehicle through the course as quickly as possible and hovered 2–3 meters above the landing pad. With only a few seconds remaining in the required flight time, the damaged combustion chamber cracked again, which caused the vehicle to tilt enough to trigger a computer abort. The vehicle performed an auto-land, but the tilt caused the module to tip over on landing after only 82 seconds in the air.[ citation needed ]

The second attempt began with another perfect first leg, but the return was marred by another hard start. Seeing that the engine was badly damaged (although flying), the team commanded an abort. The module landed back on the pad after only a few seconds.[ citation needed ]

On the final attempt, MOD suffered a violent "hard start", resulting in engine explosion. The violence of the explosion embedded a piece of the graphite chamber in the ground 64 meters from the launch pad and ended their attempts in 2007 for the prize. [17] [18]

Lunar Lander Challenge 2008

"Mod" vehicle taking off at LLC 2008 Armadillo LLC 2008 Flight 1 liftoff.jpg
"Mod" vehicle taking off at LLC 2008

The 2008 Lunar Lander Challenge took place October 24–25 at the Las Cruces International Airport in New Mexico. Armadillo Aerospace competed for the third year but for the first time had competition, from the TrueZer0 team. Both received waivers from the FAA to fly experimental rockets.

TrueZero attempted level 1, achieved hover, then lost roll control and was aborted and crashed.

Armadillo had an unsuccessful first attempt at level 1 and landed early due to inadequate thrust. On their second attempt they completed the first leg, but the second leg was cut short by the FAA closing the flight window. The second leg was held in the afternoon, and they were able to take the Level 1 top prize of $350,000. [19]

Armadillo's attempt at the level 2 prize on October 25 was aborted due to their vehicle toppling over after the engine casing burned through due to a fuel-line problem.[ citation needed ]

Lunar Lander Challenge 2009

Armadillo attempted the Level 2 prize on September 12, 2009. Armadillo successfully flew both legs with their Mod vehicle, each flight lasting over 180 seconds, landing safely. However their landing accuracy was not sufficient to win the first prize, instead they won the US$ 500,000 second prize [4] [5] while Masten Space Systems' Xoie lander won the US$ 1,000,000 Level 2 first prize. [20]

Rocket Racing League

In 2008, the Rocket Racing League announced that Armadillo Aerospace engines would be used in a second generation of X-Racer aircraft. [21] As of March 2010, the Rocket Racing League was utilizing a highly modified Velocity XL FG airframe and an Armadillo Aerospace 2,500 pound thrust liquid oxygen (LOX) and ethanol rocket engine in both the Mark-II X-Racer and Mark-III X-Racer demonstration vehicles. [22] The Rocket Racing league never got out of its early development mode, and no racing season was ever held.

Vehicles

Super Mod

The Super Mod reusable launch vehicle is a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (VTVL) [23] uncrewed rocket which was developed by Armadillo in 2010–2011. It was submitted to NASA as a potential suborbital vehicle for use as a suborbital reusable launch vehicle (sRLV) under NASA's Flight Opportunities Program. [23] It added aerodynamic fairings, partially extendable landing legs with lower aerodynamic drag, and systems improvements to the basic Mod vehicle structure and systems.

Stig

The Armadillo Stig hovering in a tethered test flight Stig-Rocket-Hovering-Tethered.JPG
The Armadillo Stig hovering in a tethered test flight

In late 2010, Armadillo started development of a new, longer rocket design created for lower-drag, higher-speed high-altitude flights, which they named Stig in homage of the Top Gear driver The Stig. [24] This rocket had similar systems, motors, and component weights as the Super Mod vehicles but was aerodynamically optimized for high-altitude flights with long 15 inches (38 cm) diameter cylindrical tanks instead of larger spherical tanks. The second flight, which took place in 2012, reached 50 miles (82 kilometers), but the recovery chute did not work as planned. [25]

The third flight took place in January 2013, and the vehicle experienced a hard landing following a parachute failure-to-deploy, [9] though the launch was successful. [26]

Staff and funding

Armadillo was headed, and largely funded, by John Carmack, a developer of video games including the Doom and Quake series . During its early days, all of its employees (including Carmack) had other, full-time jobs and contributed their efforts twice weekly to Armadillo on a voluntary basis. Armadillo had a relatively small budget and was not supported by aerospace companies or agencies like NASA, ESA, or Boeing. Armadillo Aerospace publicly declared itself fully self-funded.[ when? ] [27]

In February 2006, Carmack stated that the program to date had cost slightly over $2 million. [28] Even by the standards of X-Prize candidates, this is a low budget. Scaled Composites is estimated to have spent $25 million on its SpaceShipOne development program.

On August 8, 2006, Armadillo Aerospace announced that it had reached a sponsorship deal with Nvidia. While details were sparse, John Carmack said, "There is a chance at this point that I may have written the last personal cheque I need to for Armadillo." [29]

In April 2008, Carmack offered an updated figure of "total cost to date, about $3.5 million." He estimated that another $2 million would be needed to achieve a crewed flight to 100 km using Armadillo's modular design in a "six-pack" configuration. [30]

By 2010, Armadillo had 7 full-time employees and was profitable on ongoing operations (though Carmack was continuing to invest in development efforts). [31]

The company mascot was an armadillo named Widget.

2013 "Hibernation mode" and sale of assets

In August 2013, Carmack indicated that following the crash of the STIG-B rocket earlier that year, he had wound down the company operations and had put the company in "hibernation mode." Armadillo had stopped accepting (profitable) contract R&D work two years prior in order to focus on development of a suborbital reusable rocket. During those two years, Armadillo operated at an approximately US$1 million per year burn rate funded personally by Carmack. Several reasons were offered for this outcome, including a failure to adopt a multi-test-vehicle build strategy, making the loss of a single rocket more significant than it would have otherwise been. [9]

As of August 2013, Carmack was "actively looking for outside investors to restart work on the company’s rockets." [9]

In 2015, the assets of Armadillo Aerospace were sold to EXOS Aerospace Systems & Technologies, Inc. [1]

Future research

Carmack stated in his monthly reports and in forum posts that he expected his path to an orbital vehicle to include modular rockets similar to OTRAG technology. Lutz Kayser, the founding engineer of OTRAG, visited Armadillo in May 2006 and loaned Carmack some of their original research hardware.

"I have been corresponding with Lutz for a few months now, and I have learned quite a few things. I seriously considered an OTRAG style massive-cluster-of-cheap-modules orbital design back when we had 98% peroxide (assumed to be a biprop with kerosene), and I have always considered it one of the viable routes to significant reduction in orbital launch costs. After really going over the trades and details with Lutz, I am quite convinced that this is the lowest development cost route to significant orbital capability. Eventually, reusable stages will take over, but I actually think that we can make it all the way to orbit on our current budget by following this path. The individual modules are less complicated than our current vehicles, and I am becoming more and more fond of high production methods over hand crafter prototypes." -- June 2006 Armadillo Aerospace Update [32]

See also

External images
Gallery of CCA3 images and video
Official Youtube channel

Related Research Articles

Human spaceflight programs have been conducted, started, or planned by multiple countries and companies. The age of manned rocket flight was initiated by Fritz von Opel who piloted the world's first rocket-propelled flight on 30 September 1929. All space flights depend on rocket technology; von Opel was the co-designer and financier of the visionary project. Until the 21st century, human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments, through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004, a new category of human spaceflight programs – commercial human spaceflight – arrived. By the end of 2022, three countries and one private company (SpaceX) had successfully launched humans to Earth orbit, and two private companies had launched humans on a suborbital trajectory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reusable launch vehicle</span> Vehicles that can go to space and return

A reusable launch vehicle has parts that can be recovered and reflown, while carrying payloads from the surface to outer space. Rocket stages are the most common launch vehicle parts aimed for reuse. Smaller parts such as rocket engines and boosters can also be reused, though reusable spacecraft may be launched on top of an expendable launch vehicle. Reusable launch vehicles do not need to make these parts for each launch, therefore reducing its launch cost significantly. However, these benefits are diminished by the cost of recovery and refurbishment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Adventures</span> American space tourism company

Space Adventures, Inc. is an American space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. Its offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights, and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours. Plans announced thus far include sub-orbital and lunar spaceflights, though these are not being actively pursued at present. Nine of its clients have participated in the orbital spaceflight program with Space Adventures, including one who took two separate trips to space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Arrow</span> Company

The Canadian Arrow was a privately funded, early-2000s rocket and space tourism project concept founded by London, Ontario, Canada entrepreneurs Geoff Sheerin, Dan McKibbon and Chris Corke. The project's objective was to take the first civilians into space, on a vertical sub-orbital spaceflight reaching an altitude of 112 km.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sub-orbital spaceflight</span> Spaceflight where the spacecraft does not go into orbit

A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will not become an artificial satellite nor will it reach escape velocity.

The Centennial Challenges are NASA space competition inducement prize contests for non-government-funded technological achievements by American teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lockheed Martin X-33</span> Uncrewed re-usable spaceplane technology demonstrator for the VentureStar

The Lockheed Martin X-33 was a proposed uncrewed, sub-scale technology demonstrator suborbital spaceplane that was developed for a period in the 1990s. The X-33 was a technology demonstrator for the VentureStar orbital spaceplane, which was planned to be a next-generation, commercially operated reusable launch vehicle. The X-33 would flight-test a range of technologies that NASA believed it needed for single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicles, such as metallic thermal protection systems, composite cryogenic fuel tanks for liquid hydrogen, the aerospike engine, autonomous (uncrewed) flight control, rapid flight turn-around times through streamlined operations, and its lifting body aerodynamics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pressure-fed engine</span> Rocket engine operation method

The pressure-fed engine is a class of rocket engine designs. A separate gas supply, usually helium, pressurizes the propellant tanks to force fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber. To maintain adequate flow, the tank pressures must exceed the combustion chamber pressure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masten Space Systems</span>

Masten Space Systems was an aerospace manufacturer startup company in Mojave, California that was developing a line of vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) rockets, initially for uncrewed research sub-orbital spaceflights and eventually intended to support robotic orbital spaceflight launches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ARCAspace</span> Aerospace company headquartered in Romania

Romanian Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Association, also known as ARCAspace, is an aerospace company based in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania. It builds rockets, high-altitude balloons, and unmanned aerial vehicles. It was founded in 1999 as a non-governmental organization in Romania by the Romanian engineer and entrepreneur Dumitru Popescu and other rocket and aeronautics enthusiasts. Since then, ARCA has launched two stratospheric rockets and four large-scale stratospheric balloons including a cluster balloon. It was awarded two governmental contracts with the Romanian government and one contract with the European Space Agency. ARCASpace is currently developing a three-stage, semi-reusable steam-powered rocket called EcoRocket and in 2022 has shifted its business model to Asteroid mining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lunar Lander Challenge</span> Competition funded by NASAs Centennial Challenges program

The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NG-LLC) was a competition funded by NASA's Centennial Challenges program. The competition offered a series of prizes for teams that launch a vertical takeoff/vertical landing (VTVL) rocket that achieved the total delta-v needed for a vehicle to move between the surface of the Moon and its orbit. The multi-level competition was conducted by the X PRIZE Foundation, with sponsorship from the Northrop Grumman Corporation who ran the ongoing competition. The prize purses were paid by NASA. It was held annually at the X PRIZE Cup, making its debut at the 2006 Wirefly X PRIZE Cup in October, 2006, until 2009 when the prize purse was awarded to Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">X Prize Cup</span>

The X Prize Cup is a two-day air and space exposition which was the result of a partnership between the X Prize Foundation and the State of New Mexico that began in 2004 when the Ansari X-Prize was held. This led to plans to build the world's first true rocket festival. Three X-Prize Cups have been held: in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Each X Prize Cup hosts different events and demonstrations, such as rocket-powered bicycles, rocket jet packs; but particularly notable are the Lunar Lander Challenge and the Space Elevator Games. 85,000 visitors attended the 2007 X Prize Cup. Although there was no X Prize Cup in 2009, there was a Lunar Lander Challenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VTVL</span> Method of takeoff and landing used by rockets; vertical takeoff, vertical landing

Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing for rockets. Multiple VTVL craft have flown. The most widely known and commercially successful VTVL rocket is SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage.

Aircraft can have different ways to take off and land. Conventional airplanes accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift is generated for takeoff, and reverse the process to land. Some airplanes can take off at low speed, this being a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as helicopters and Harrier jump jets can take off and land vertically. Rockets also usually take off vertically, but some designs can land horizontally.

The DARPA XS-1 was an experimental spaceplane/booster with the planned capability to deliver small satellites into orbit for the U.S. Military. It was reported to be designed to be reusable as frequently as once a day, with a stated goal of doing so for 10 days straight. The XS-1 was intended to directly replace the first stage of a multistage rocket by taking off vertically and flying to hypersonic speed and high suborbital altitude, enabling one or more expendable upper stages to separate and deploy a payload into low Earth orbit. The XS-1 would then return to Earth, where it could ostensibly be serviced fast enough to repeat the process at least once every 24 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism on the Moon</span> Future plans to make the Moon available for tourism

Lunar tourism may be possible in the future if trips to the Moon are made available to a private audience. Some space tourism startup companies are planning to offer tourism on or around the Moon, and estimate this to be possible sometime between 2023 and 2043.

Exos Aerospace Systems & Technologies is an aerospace manufacturer and developer of reusable launch systems intended to support uncrewed orbital spaceflight launches, and is based in Caddo Mills, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of private spaceflight</span>

The following is a timeline of important events in the history of private spaceflight, including important technical as well as legislative and political advances. Though the industry has its origins in the early 1960s, soon after the beginning of the Space Age, private companies did not begin conducting launches into space until the 1980s, and it was not until the 21st century that multiple companies began privately developing and operating launch vehicles and spacecraft in earnest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billionaire space race</span> Billionaire space rivalry

The billionaire space race is the rivalry among entrepreneurs who have entered the space industry from other industries - particularly computing. This private spaceflight race involves sending privately developed rockets and vehicles to various destinations in space, often in response to government programs or to develop the space tourism sector.

LinkSpace or Link Space Aerospace Technology Inc. is a Chinese private space launch company based in Beijing. It is led by CEO Hu Zhenyu, and founded as the first private rocket firm in China. The company was founded in 2014, by Hu Zhenyu, a graduate of South China University of Technology; Yan Chengyi, a graduate of Tsinghua University; and Wu Xiaofei, a manufacturing expert. The company is registered in Shenzhen.

References

  1. 1 2 Foust, Jeff (May 11, 2015). "Exos Seeks To Revive Armadillo Rocket Technology". Space News. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ Archived 2002-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Armadillo Aerospace FAQ Archived January 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 Michaels, Patrick (September 14, 2009). "Rocket Men From Mesquite's Armadillo Aerospace Are in Line For $1 Million X Prize". Dallas Observer. Archived from the original on September 18, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
  5. 1 2 "International Space Fellowship". spacefellowship.com. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  6. ↑ Lunar lander qualifies for prize
  7. ↑ Perhaps You'll Visit Space In Your Lifetime, After All, Gizmodo, 2010-05-12, accessed May 15, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Space Tourism Firm to Offer Suborbital Joy Rides at Lower Costs". Space.com . April 30, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Foust, Jeff (August 1, 2013). "Carmack: Armadillo Aerospace in "hibernation mode"". NewSpace Journal. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  10. ↑ Armadillo Aerospace Vets Start New Space Company 2014-05-19 - Space News reports new company formed by former Armadillo employees.
  11. ↑ Foust, Jeff (May 11, 2015). "Exos Seeks To Revive Armadillo Rocket Technology". Space News. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ Carmack, John (September 14, 2017). "I showed all of our crashes at the beginning of Armadillo Aerospace, but everyone thought it was a terrible idea and talked me out of it". @ID_AA_Carmack. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Armadillo Aerospace: Scaling Up for Modularized Spaceships". Space.com . June 25, 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  14. ↑ Armadillo Aerospace – News Archive Archived March 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Texel crash video Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "News Archive: Texel crash, Pixel back-to-back 180, Module 105". armadilloaerospace.com. September 4, 2007. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
  17. ↑ Carmack, John. "Armadillo Aerospace News Archive". Archived from the original on December 17, 2007.
  18. ↑ David, Leonard (October 28, 2007). "Armadillo Setback As Vehicle Flames Out". livescience.com.
  19. ↑ "Armadillo rocket takes $350,000 prize". NBC News . October 24, 2008. Retrieved October 25, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Masten and Armadillo Claim Lunar Lander Prizes". Centennial Challenges: NASA's Prize Program for the "Citizen Inventor". NASA. November 2, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2011. With only a few days remaining in the 2009 competition period, Masten Space Systems of Mojave, California successfully met the Level Two requirements for the Centennial Challenges — Lunar Lander Challenge and by posting the best average landing accuracy, won the first place prize of $1,000,000. The flights were conducted with their "Xoie" (XA-0.1E) vehicle on Oct. 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Armadillo Aerospace, the long-time leader in Lunar Lander Challenge efforts, was the first team to qualify for the Level Two prize with successful flights on Sept. 12 in Caddo Mills, Texas. The average landing accuracy determines which teams will receive first and second place prizes. The average accuracy for Armadillo Aerospace flights was 87 cm. but the Masten team achieved an accuracy of 19 cm, moving them into first place. Armadillo Aerospace will receive the $500,000 second place prize.
  21. ↑ Rocket Racing Archived January 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , August 2008
  22. ↑ Rocket Racing League Announces Milestone Development in X-Racer Archived July 15, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , press release, 2010-03-10, accessed May 3, 2010.
  23. 1 2 "sRLV platforms compared". NASA. March 7, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011. Super Mod: Type: VTVL/Unpiloted
  24. ↑ Armadillo Aerospace - News Archive - Jan 22, 2011 Archived April 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  25. ↑ "Private Rocket Launch Tests Supersonic Parachute". Space.com . February 8, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  26. ↑ STIG B-III mission, January 5, 2013 Archived May 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine . Armadillo Aerospace.
  27. ↑ "Investment". Archived from the original on June 25, 2004. Retrieved 2004-05-20.
  28. ↑ "RLV and Space Transport News » Alt.space spending". Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  29. ↑ "NVIDIA Sponsorship". August 7, 2006. Archived from the original on August 22, 2006.
  30. ↑ Armadillo Aerospace - News Archive Archived April 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  31. ↑ Armadillo Aerospace - News Archive August 10, 2010 Archived December 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  32. ↑ June 2006 Armadillo Aerospace Update. Archived March 3, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.