Posted: Nov 08, 2005 02:05 pm EST
SpaceShot Inc announced in a press release yesterday that they plan to launch a new internet game. Top prize: Suborbital spaceflights on the Rocketplane XP. Play starts this autumn to award flights taking place in 2007. Cost: Under five dollars.

In Oklahoma, a state tax credit was key to getting Rocketplane Ltd. funded to begin work on a reusable launch vehicle for space tourism flights that would originate from one of the state's old Air Force bases.

“Space is not just for the wealthy! "

The SpaceShot team is founded and led by Renaissance man Dr. Sam Dinkin. "His business credits include dozens of patents, billions of dollars in auctions and state of the art software," states the press release. "Together, we will bring spaceflight to people of all means,” announced Sam. “Space is not just for the wealthy!"

In 2003, Dinkin began to invest in space start-ups. He is now serving on the advisory boards of the Colony Fund and the Space Settlement Institute.

Space real estate and Space bonds

Founded by Alan Wasser, former CEO of the National Space Society, the Space Settlement Institute proposes legislation authorizing lunar and Mars land claims.

The Colony fund is a mutual fund offering the public small shares in the private space industry. Thomas Olson, chief executive of the Colony Fund, said earlier "Billionaire funding can't cover the development of everything required for commercial space infrastructure. There's nothing really out there investing in small entrepreneurial firms trying to break into those markets."

The first Colony mutual fund intended to be a $500 million fund, a test model. "We're starting from scratch, finding funds for the communication and data systems and the parts that go into spaceships. Future funds, whether we make them or other people get into the game and start making them, are going to attract a lot more money and they're going to attract institutional money at the same time, which kind of legitimizes things a lot for everybody," Thomas said.

The law and the security

Dinkins of the SpaceShot team writes a weekly column at The Space Review, blogs at Transterrestrial Musings, and sponsored the Space Journalism Prize. In October, he was honored as a Space Advocate in the Space Frontier Foundation.

Rocketplane, Ltd. Inc. have executed an escrow agreement that provides maximum protection of the money to buy suborbital spaceflight tickets. The arrangement includes SIPC insured accounts, a top 25 accountancy and two banks. SpaceShot’s gaming lawyer is Martin Owen who co-authored the book Internet Gaming Law, published in 2005.

Making people to dream big the hardest game of all

Also Virgin plans a Space game, the Virgin Galactic Quest, with actual space rides as top prizes. The idea faces two problems: Online gaming is illegal in US, and Space lottery has not been successful so far.

Last year, the Florida Lottery tested the idea on several focus groups after initiatives from Space Adventures to create a lottery game where the top prize would be a ride to the ISS. People said the'd prefer to take the money and use them on earthly pleasures.

The website Space-shot.com will launch a series of online skill games this autumn. The SpaceShot web development effort is being led by Mike Massee of the Raindrop Media Group - a veteran developer of space media content including material for Rotary Rocket, XCOR Aerospace and Scaled Composite’s SpaceShipOne. Mike is also a member of the pit crew for EZ-Rocket. It just flew last month at the Countdown to the X-Prize Cup in New Mexico.

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