Phillip Storm and Eric Meier, presidents of Space Transport Corp., are vying for a 10 million-dollar Ansari X Prize, to the first group to send into space a privately-funded craft carrying three people twice within two weeks.

The front-runner in the competition is SpaceShipOne, an US aircraft that a pilot flew into space in June.

The 26-year-old pair's Rubicon 1 rocket exploded Sunday after taking off on this northwestern state's coast. It was the rocket's first attempt.

"We will keep on working," Meier said. "We are going to repair it and launch it again."

"We are not that disappointed," he told AFP. "It is really to be expected. We are humble here."

The duo, whose company is based in Forks, Washington, is not alone in its space dreams.

In all, 27 teams are vying for the X Prize, which was created by the US-based X Prize Foundation to encourage commercial space travel. The teams are from Argentina, Canada, Great Britain, Israel, Romania, Russia and the United States.

A Canadian competitor said Thursday he planned to launch a ship into space on October 2.

"This business is an intense challenge," said Meier, who along with Storm, raised 220,000 dollars to build Rubicon.

"Our biggest dream is to develop tourism in space," Meier said. "Space can be commercialized."

SPACE.WIRE