Rocket Racing League

ROCKET planes could soon be racing through virtual racetracks in the skies above Australia.

As the Rocket Racing League gears up for a possible launch late next year, chief operating officer Mike D’Angelo said the league had every intention of holding races outside the US.

The RRL pits anywhere between two and 10 liquid oxygen-powered “X-racers” head-to-head around virtual 3D tracks, pushing speeds of up to 480km/h through closed circuit and drag racing formats.
Spectators can also view the tracks with augmented reality smartphone apps, or on giant screens at the events which overlay the skies with virtual obstacles.

Unlike the Red Bull Air Races, RRL ups the ante by racing several vehicles against each other on the same track at the same time.

It’s one of the keys to RRL’s success and a lot of the current testing is aimed at ensuring the action can be as close-in as possible.

Mr D’Angelo said the RRL was “already flying multiple vehicles in tandem, sometimes as many as three experimental flights a day”.

The closest so far seen by the public was at the Air and Rocket Racing Show in Tulsa in April, where two Rocket Racers flew within 13 seconds of each other.

By the time the league starts, X-Racers will be flying as little as seven metres apart.

While he said that the league's “internal development schedule” was on track, Mr D’Angelo wouldn’t commit to a rumoured late-2011 launch.

“We’re excited about the development of the vehicle systems and are fully focused on completing that before we start setting dates for races,” he said.

He could, however, make a much stronger commitment about the league’s intention to bring X-Racers to Australian skies.

“100 per cent ... stay tuned,” he said.

“For us … going global is absolutely a priority.”