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Racing visionary heads for the skies in three dimensions

Personal spaceflight pioneer Peter Diamandis unveiled plans this week to take Formula One racing into the skies with rocket aircraft that will race around a three-dimensional course at up to 480kph.

Diamandis, the founder of the US$10 million X Prize for private spaceflight, said his Rocket Racing League would seek to tap into the highly lucrative market enjoyed by Formula One and Nascar racing.

"It'll change the face of racing completely," he told reporters in New York.

The aerial racetracks will be approximately 3.2km long, 1.6km wide, and about 1,500m high, running perpendicularly to spectators.

The rocket planes, called X-Racers, will take off from a runway both in a staggered fashion and side-by-side and fly a course based on the design of a Grand Prix competition, with long straights, vertical ascents and deep banks.

Each pilot will follow his or her own virtual "tunnel" or "track" of space, separated from their competitors by around 100m.

"Of course it's risky," Diamandis said. "We're dealing with a new frontier."

Pilots will use state-of-the-art Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to reduce the chance of any mid-air collision.

The X-Racers, which are still in the development stage, are expected to cost around US$1 million each. They will be powered by a single 800kg liquid and kerosene rocket engine.

Instead of a throttle, the racers will have a simple on/off switch to operate the rocket burner.

"It's either a glider, or it's a rocket, depending on which way the switch is clicked," said Rick Searfoss, a former space shuttle commander who will be among the first X-Racer pilots.

The vehicles will only carry around four minutes' worth of fuel, forcing the pilots to exercise their judgment in choosing the optimal moments to fire the rocket burner.

"It will mean multiple shut-offs and relights," Searfoss said.

Four of the aircraft will be brought online next year and the league expects to have 10 X-Racers competing by 2007.
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