On the hunt for the coveted Ansari X Prize, one of the Canadian entries (the da Vinci project) announced last Friday that it was postponing its October 2nd launch. The delay was caused by an inability to obtain a special material necessary to make two key parts. This temporary halt means that Scaled Composite's SpaceShipOne, due to launch from California's Mojave Desert on Wednesday. If the spaceship can repeat the same feat (i.e. reach an altitude of 62 miles or 100 kilometers) twice in a two-week time frame, it will capture the $10 million prize purse.
Note: Canada also has another entry running in the contest: the Canadian Arrow, which was discussed here in a previous entry. more »