*The following is archival content from 2003, hosted on the original X PRIZE website, to maintain authenticity.

Propulsion: Jet and Rocket Engines Ship Name: Cosmos Mariner Team Leader: Dr. Norman LaFave Location: Houston, Texas, USA Launch: Horizontal on conventional runway Landing: Horizontal, powered on conventional runway

Quote from Dr. Norman LaFave

"The aviation prizes, such as the Orteig Prize, built the aviation industry into what it is today. The competitors for the aviation prizes captured our imagination and instilled a sense of adventure in all of us which allowed aviation to grow as an industry with the support of the public. The X PRIZE, like the Orteig Prize before it, offers the spark needed to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit necessary to build this new industry and make us a true space-faring civilization."

Flight Sequence

The Cosmos Mariner takes off from a coastal airport near Houston with its two jet engines at full throttle. After 15-20 minutes, the Cosmos Mariner positions itself over open water in a stratospheric cruise (~40,000 ft, Mach 0.8), performs an initial pitch up maneuver and stabilizes for rocket ignition.

The crew braces for an additional 40 tons of thrust from the rocket engine. About 130 seconds are required to burn the propellant with shutdown at Mach 7 and 200,000 ft. The Cosmos Mariner continues to arc upward in free-fall, reaching apogee above 100 kilometers about 100 seconds later.