TORONTO, Ontario (July 17, 2000) - The X PRIZE Foundation of St. Louis, Mo., has approved the application of the da Vinci project, Canada's first entrant. Da Vinci is the 18th team to register in the X PRIZE, a $10 million (U.S.) cash prize awarded to the first person or team to build a privately funded passenger-carrying vehicle that travels to space and back.

Brian Feeney, 41, a Toronto-based industrial designer, will pilot the made-in-Canada spacecraft to a minimum altitude of 100 km, or 62 miles, to space. The da Vinci project (www.davinciproject.com), is comprised of a team of volunteer aerospace engineers, designers and professionals.

"As a child, I was inspired by Neil Armstrong's first, giant step on the moon," said Brian Feeney, who will travel solo on all flights. "My sense of awe has not waned in 30 years. The da Vinci project's mission is to encourage all Canadians to explore and discover."

To win the $10 million X PRIZE, spacecraft must be privately financed and constructed, and demonstrate the ability to fly three people into space. The vehicles must be reusable, flying twice within a two-week period. The competition's goal, which has been endorsed by leading space and aviation organizations around the world, is to jump-start the commercialization of space, including space tourism. Currently, there are 18 teams from five nations participating in the competition.

"The goal of the X PRIZE is to open the space frontier to tourists and private explorers," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, founder and chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation. "Our prize has incentivized some of the best and brightest entrepreneurs in the world to build a new generation of spacecraft that will revolutionize the travel and transportation industry."

The da Vinci Project (www.davinciproject.com)
The da Vinci project will launch its spacecraft from the world's largest hot air balloon. The 2,500 kg (5,500 pound) rocket will be tethered 300 meters (1,000 feet) below the 25-story balloon and lifted over the course of an hour to an altitude of 40,000 feet.

The 10,000-pound thrust, liquid oxygen, kerosene engines will fire the first stage and the rocket will fly an initial angular trajectory to clear the balloon. The spacecraft then will transition to vertical flight to its apogee of 120 km in space. The rocket will reach a maximum speed on both its ascent and reentry of Mach 4, or 4,250 kph (2,650 mph). An innovative ballute will protect and stabilize the rocket on reentry. A flyable parachute will be deployed at 10,000 feet and the rocket will descend under control, guided by GPS, to a predetermined landing zone.

"The da Vinci project is named in honor of a man whose imagination changed the world," said Feeney. "His designs for the first helicopter, first aircraft and first parachute are well known. We seek to emulate that da Vinci spirit of inventiveness, creativity and quest for knowledge." The da Vinci project includes engineers from the University of Toronto, Institute of Aerospace Studies, who are assisting in the design and development of the unnamed spacecraft. Feeney estimates that the project will cost approximately $5 million and take approximately 18 months to complete. Construction of the da Vinci project's spacecraft began this summer, and testing of the spacecraft's propulsion systems could begin as early as Fall 2000.

Nuytco Research of Vancouver, will custom build a $250,000 (Canadian) spacesuit for Feeney and Ideaspeoplemoney.com, a deal development and venture capital company in Toronto, has arranged the seed capital financing and produced the www.davinciproject.com website.

"Canada has an opportunity to make a profound contribution to space exploration and to create history through its support of the da Vinci project," said Marc DeJordy, Operations Director of the da Vinci project. "Our design has been developed and approved and our team is in place. With proper funding through corporate sponsorship and public contributions, the Canadian team will be ready for take-off."

"By 1929, many individuals and corporations had sponsored major aeronautical prizes," continued Diamandis. "One such prize, the Orteig Prize, which offered $25,000, stimulated not one, but nine separate attempts to cross the Atlantic. To initiate the flights, competitors raised and spent some $400,000, or 16 times the amount of the prize. As a result of these early aviation prizes, the world now enjoys a $250 billion aviation industry."

For additional information about the X PRIZE, visit the X PRIZE Foundation web site at www.xprize.org.

Note to Editors: Video footage and stills of the da Vinci rocket are available by contacting Lisa Clarke at 202-662-1280.

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