canyon space team

General
The Canyon Space Team was established with the vision of winning the X-Prize®. The X-Prize® is a $10,000,000 (ten million dollar) prize for the first team or group to achieve the following:

they must put three civilian passengers in space, that is 100 km (~62 miles) or more above the earth

return those three civilians successfully to the earth

repeat the procedure within 14 days with the same vehicle

accomplish this all with less than 10% government
funding in their entire program

have their vehicle be 90% reusable (dry weight).

To learn more about this ambitious challenge, please see
the X-Prize® website.

The X-Prize® in itself is a worthy goal...but the true goal of anyone endeavoring to achieve that prize lies far beyond the 10 million dollars that it offers. The X-Prize® is an incentive, the ten million merely a taste of what the future offers. The true prizes are the billion dollar industries of space tourism, orbital manufacturing, "space taxi" services, and the hundreds of other economical niches that cheap access to space will open up. These were promised with the Space Shuttle, but quickly died under the ever decreasing budget, rising costs, and stifling requirements of that worthy program. Thus, many people have come to believe that space will not be a realizable goal within their lifetime, and we believe something is needed to change that perception. The Canyon Space Team was founded to form a group with the right talents, skills, enthusiasm and down-to-earth mentality needed to win the X-Prize®, and then go beyond.

Specifics on How We Plan to Win the Prize

The Vehicle
A possible concept that the CST is exploring, and the one that has received the most internal and external attention, is to use an air launched, rocket-powered vehicle incorporating a wing to achieve the necessary 100 Km. Above is an initial design sketch.

The Flight Profile
The flight simulation for the X-Prize vehicle has mostly concentrated on concepts similar to the winged vehicle shown above. In the most encouraging simulation concept the vehicle would be dropped at approximately 15,000 Ft, light its engine and actually start descending to build up speed. It would then pull back to around 70 degrees and climb until reaching engine burnout at approximately 200,000 ft. After coasting through 300,000 ft. the vehicle would use exo-atmospheric controls to reorient itself for a ballistic reentry. After reentering the atmosphere, the pilot would use regular aerodynamic controls to glide the vehicle to a safe landing.