Just a reminder to those teams who are getting close to an orbital attempt. Keep me posted as to likely launch-dates (I know they're unpredictable, but it's fine if things are delayed or scrubbed), since I will need to make plans to be there.

Also, if you're getting close, now is a very good time to re-read all the rules in detail, check your budgets, and ask me about anything you're unsure about. It would be a complete tragedy if someone made their orbits but failed on some trivial point like, say, orbital validation. Equally, if nobody can see your satellite before launch to verify the mass...

Any information you send me will be kept confidential as long as you let me know it's confidential.

Best wishes, and here's to the new Space Age,
Paul

Paul
There can be no Orbital attempt by a US Team in the time left for the contest. What are we going to do?

Monroe

Everybody stand by - I'll make an announcement soon.

But, whatever the announcement, it's still a first-past-the post competition!

Best,
Paul

Hi Paul,

I hope a team somewhere can pull this off before the September 19th deadline. As I've stated before, if it doesn't happen by the deadline, and because of our late decision to try, we are working to see this happen at some point in time and would welcome the expertice of other teams that have/had been involved to join together with us (as a united "Team N-Prize") to see your challenge eventually happen. Heck, we are now looking at the N-Plus Prize as well. I just hope you're announcement isn't a cancelation of the challenge and even if it is, we are committed to still do it.

Rick

Hi Paul
What's the announcement? I'm getting closer....

Hi,

The announcement will concern the extension or non-extension (sorry - I don't want to give it away for a few days yet) of the N-Prize. I can absolutely confirm that there is NO cancellation - under any circumstances (short of me being hit by a bus).

However, regardless of the duration of the prize, the winner is still first-past-the-post in each category, so gogogogo! There are a few teams who are very quiet but who are making serious progress...

Wildspace - what's the news?

Incidentally, there is a competition planned to follow the N-Prize, but I plan to announce it when (not if!) I present the N-Prize. All I'll say for now is that it's crazy, barely possible, and anyone who can win the N-Prize (and who still has a full set of hands) will be the right sort of maniac to enter.

Paul

Are you going to announce the updates when the count down timer (yours seems to have stopped btw) hits 100 days to go? I still think the challenge is possible but it looks increasingly unlikely that my team will do it within the current time limits unless i can can get a sponsorship deal that enables several members of the team to be able to give up their jobs and work on it full time and my last couple of attempts at that seem to have failed so far but we are not giving up progress is slow but the more we work on it the more we think its possible and we may yet find a way and if not i hope some other team does as i think humanity needs cheap access to space sooner rather than later so good luck to all our competitors space is big enough for all of us.

Hi Alex, no, the notification should come sooner than that.

Actually, I'm not sure what happened to the countdown timer, now that you mention it... I'll have a word with my Webbist.

I'm intrigued by your "last couple of attempts" - any news? Do you still have the customary number of fingers and eyebrows?

Cheers,
Paul