In the Nevada desert, a group of amateurs are involved in a class act to reach for space.
The Civilian Space eXploration Team (CSXT) is primed to loft what is billed as the most powerful and sophisticated vehicle ever developed for an amateur rocket launch.
The home-built vehicle is slated for a sendoff later this month. If all goes well the rocket will climb some 60 nautical miles (111 kilometers) above the planet, 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) higher than what is generally accepted as the edge of space.
For safety and security reasons, the Federal Aviation Administration has requested that the exact date and location not be announced until just prior to the flight.
Members of the CSXT comprise about 30 people -- from a retired Hollywood stunt man, to teachers, scientists, inventors, television engineers, ham radio enthusiasts and students, as well as true rocket scientists.
All in all, these rocketeers are looking for 10 minutes of glory under September skies.
New era
"This is a significant, historic event in aviation history. No amateur team has ever launched a rocket into space, ever," said Jerry Larson, program manager for the CSXT. "If successful this event will mark a new era in space access and transportation," he told SPACE.com.
CSXT members have designed and built the Primera rocket. The vehicle weighs 511 pounds (232 kilograms), and is 17-feet (5.18 meters) tall. A solid-propellant motor is to push the rocket to well over five times the speed of sound in just 15 seconds.Some one-and-a-half minutes later, Primera is to nose itself into space. The vehicle is chock-full of sensors and other gear, including global positioning system satellite antennas and receivers, transmitters, color camera, data recorders and event-timing computers. Live color video will be transmitted from the rocket throughout its flight.
During atmosphere re-entry, the rocket will separate into two sections. Two specially designed parachutes will bring the components safely down to Earth. The desert landing zone will be approximately 25 miles (40 kilometers) downrange. Total flight time of the rocket is on the order of 10 minutes.
The FAA and the Bureau of Land Management have given a go-for-launch thumb's up to the CSXT. The U.S. government has officially approved a window of five launch days to get Primera off the ground.
Sole possession
"For over 40 years space has been the sole possession of governments and big corporations funded by governments," Larson said. As a result, access to space is extremely expensive and limited to a small percentage of the population, he said.
"With an amateur team reaching space it marks the beginning of civilian and amateur space access and will open the eyes of the world and many inventors and visionaries to the endless possibilities. The result will ultimately be significantly cheaper access to space," Larson said.
The CSXT group proudly points out that it has built a space launch vehicle for about one-tenth the cost of what the government would spend to purchase the same vehicle.
Along with the hoped for record-setting flight, the team members are also ready to fire up a prediction.
Looking back to the 1950's, CSXT's Larson said that the kit airplane was introduced, making air travel financially possible for many people -- a fact still alive and well today.
"I think someday we will see a similar trend for space vehicles, at least that is our dream. The first step in all of this is of course proving it can be done by simply reaching space," Larson said.
Rocky road
Roaring off on the road to space hasn't been easy.
For the past two years the group has been actively pursuing the Primera as their next generation launch vehicle. Its design is borne from past successes and failures since 1995.
A SpaceShot 2000 rocket was flown in September of that year, a flight contributing significantly to Primera's design.
SpaceShot 2000 failed to reach space after encountering a wind shear at high altitude, tearing off one of the rocket's fins. That flight ended when the vehicle broke up in spectacular fashion.
"The failure turned the tide for us. We took a long hard look at every system from our launch vehicle to our ground systems. We redesigned everything. We are determined not to fail again," Larson said.
A June attempt to launch Primera into space was scrubbed, primarily due to high winds. A stand storm ragged through the group's launch control facility. For the last few months, wind damaged equipment was repaired and new systems were developed to increase the chances for a SpaceShot 2002 rocket liftoff this month.
"This is it. All systems are green. We have our fingers crossed for calm winds and clear skies so we can take our 'Shot' at making history," Larson said.
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