space is the place

you may have heard that spaceship one won the x-prize this week. they earned $10 million by carrying two people into suborbit twice in two weeks. (in fact, if you turn on your tv right now, you can catch a special on it on the discovery channel…)

the future of space travel is bright, and not just for paul allen.

behold: the x-prize cup! where privately built spacecraft can compete for prizes.

the american space prize offering $50 million to the first vehicle to carry five people into orbit and dock with a space station. it’s being organized by robert bigelow, a nevada millionaire who’s also funding a private space station project.

and don’t forget the x-prize 2! this time asking for advancements in education technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and fuel efficiency.

the coolest part of all of this? bigelow’s inflatable space habitats will be carried into space by retired russian ballistic missiles, converted into silo-launched Dnepr boosters, provided by ISC Kosmotras, a russian/ukrainian rocket-for-hire company. the retired rockets are r-36 m’s, classified by nato as the ss-18, or ’satan’ rocket.

ISC Kosmotras is the best company in the goddamn world.