How is X Prize Cup supposed to happen with only ONE team?

Seeing as how the X Prize itself was won on the first and ONLY attempt?

You know, the other 25 teams may want to participate.
I don't think that there was just one team in this venture.

By virtue of being the first attempt it stands to reason that it is the ONLY attempt. The only way that the second nteam to attempt the X-Prize could have won was if the first had failed.
How many people attempted to cross the Atlantic solo before Lindburgh? I know of no others (although I stand to be corrected). That detracts not 1 iota from his achievement just as the X-Prize being won by the first team to actually launch is a major achievement.
Where did you get the idea there was only 1 team. Look around the web site, there are dozens. Scaled Composites won because they got there first.
Why is it the person that finnishes the 100m first ALWAYS gets the gold medel? It's because they are the winners.

A fair number.

Nobody remembers them because they're dead.

I stand corrected.

This also should opens the door for some other team that did not meet all of the requirement’s of the main prize.

Well IMO burt is not going to get to orbit without significant redesign, this means essentially, starting over.

This opens the door for some of the other teams who were reletivly close to completion. Perhaps even Armadillo, who are about a year behind, has a chance if they for go for LOX-Methanol engines now. (otherwise IMO they are out)

I think Burt definitely has the advantage... but let me ask you some questions

1) When has there ever been a professional sports franchise with only one team?

2) When was the last time you heard of only one runner in the Boston marathon?

3) When was the last time you saw only one car in a Nascar race?

4) On the 2nd of March, 2003, Team Alinghi made history by bringing the Auld Mug (amercia's cup) to Europe for the first time in 152-years. Is it your possition that no Europeans fielded a team durring this time?

Please be promt so we can continue this discussion

I have to agree with the original post.

With the possible exception of the Da Vinci Project which may or may not be close to achieving the target, none of the other teams are particularly close to achieving anything noteworthy.

When is the X-Prize Cup planned for? Maybe it would work in about two or three years, but by then hopefully we will have moved on to orbital exploits.

STC still have a test flight of Rubicon II scheduled for this weekend. Going by their previous public statements, I reckon both they and Canadian Arrow would be in a position to make manned launches within six months given sufficient sponsorship.

The first competitive X-Cup is scheduled for '06. ARCA, Armadillo, da Vinci, STC, Canadian Arrow, and possibly Starchaser should have competitive vehicles by then....

Many of the other teams are in fact well into their testing stages. i believe that the time between now and the first X Cup will be more than enough for some of these teams to spread their wings and take flight (pardon the pun).

I love punning, Cathleen (the art of paronomasia, or using words that sound alike but differ in meaning to achieve humor... okay, of a sort) .

But that makes your excellent point no less valid. The X Prize teams that have already done real development--Armadillo, Canadian Arrow, Da Vinci, ARCA, STS, and others--already, as I believe you to be saying, have an advantage for the X Cup and beyond. They cross the starting line under speed rather than from a standing start.

As some writer once said (might even have been me), work once done is never lost, it can always be reused.

--Ralph

The first X-prize Cup is in 2006. Many teams could have spacecrafts ready to compete, so I'm not sure why they wouldn't?

next summer is a kind of exhibition cup, basically concept demonstrator with only the few teams that will be done. imo, we can look foward to scaled of course, da vinci, canadian arrow, armadillo, arca, starchaser, stc and maybe a few others to have working suborbital vehicles by 2006, with scaled, da vinci, canadian arrow certainly in 2005, arca, starchaser, stc and armadillo possibly. besides, even if the thing isn't totally done, they can always roll out the latest prototype and do a test flight and some static engine runs for a crowd.

I'm sure there are other teams out there that didn't register for the X Prize due to time constraints, that will be entering in the X Cup competition.

Well im sure by the time Xcup comes around there will be a few teams, probably not 6 or 7, but maybe the ones furthest ahead. Also other teams will be there with demonstrations, since they havent completed there projects, in other words, it will be fun to go to.