XCOR needs a new subsystem for their rocket propulsion development. They're offering a prize.

Is the $5,000 first prize really enough to justify a new design and prototype, when they say that they will retain the rights to manufacture? I could see it if the prize led into a contract to supply these units to XCOR, but it looks like after they give you the prize money, they own the design.

On the other hand it would make an excellent student engineering project, and at the same time expose the students to rocketry in general.

"Is the $5,000 first prize really enough to justify a new design and prototype, when they say that they will retain the rights to manufacture?"

If a clever high school student spends 500 hours building a thing that works, then goes on to become XCOR's next Chief Engineer, the answer is YES. If the Enormous Aerospace Company spends $10 million in IRAD funds, the answer is NO. There's a lot of grey area between those extremes. We expect most of the contestants to be retired machinists, school clubs, and live steam railfans.

"I could see it if the prize led into a contract to supply these units to XCOR, but it looks like after they give you the prize money, they own the design."

Yes, the prize money is in exchange for the design. If you think it's not enough, don't enter.

You seem to be assuming that the prize winning hardware will be useful to XCOR. Rand used the term "an interesting new contracting method," not XCOR. XCOR does not expect to receive a piece of hardware that we can just use. It's a contest, not a contract, and the prize rules are so flexible that I am sure we will be surprised by the entrants.

Of course, we would LIKE it to turn out that we get a useful design, (one that needs an acceptable amount of changes to be useful) but that's not guaranteed. What is guaranteed is that we will pay winning entrants whether they are useful to us or not.

Dan DeLong

Yes, for the record, those words were indeed mine, not XCOR's. Thanks for the clarification, Dan.

Hi boys!
fd4d18