Armadillo Aerospace

Armadillo Aerospace
Company typePrivately held
IndustryAerospace
Founded2000
FounderJohn Carmack
Fateout of business
SuccessorExos Aerospace[1]
HeadquartersMesquite, Texas
Key people
John Carmack
ProductsRocket vehicles/Space Tourism
Websitewww.armadilloaerospace.com

Armadillo Aerospace was an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal was to build a crewed suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism,[2] and it had also stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack,[3] co-founder and former chief technical officer of id Software.

On October 24, 2008, Armadillo won $350,000 by succeeding in the Level 1 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. On September 12, 2009, Armadillo won $500,000 by succeeding in Level 2 of the same challenge.[4][5][6]

In 2010, they signed an exclusive deal with Space Adventures. Armadillo Aerospace was to provide a suborbital rocket to fly tourists into space, while Space Adventures would sell tickets for the experience.[7][8]

In August 2013, Carmack announced that Armadillo Aerospace had been put in "hibernation mode", following setbacks including the crash of the STIG-B rocket in January 2013.[9]

In May 2014, several former employees of Armadillo Aerospace formed a new company, Exos Aerospace, which was created to carry their former company's research into reusable commercial spacecraft. The new company set up their operations in one of Armadillo's former facilities at the Caddo Mills Municipal Airport, in Texas.[10] Exos completed acquisition of Armadillo assets in early 2015, and intended to begin launches of the Suborbital Active Rocket with Guidance (SARGE) in 2016 from Spaceport America in New Mexico. SARGE will be an enhanced Armadillo STIG-B.[11] The first flight of SARGE took place in 2018 from Spaceport America.

In September 2017, John Carmack retweeted a post about SpaceX rocket bloopers, along with his post "I showed all of our crashes at the beginning of Armadillo Aerospace, but everyone thought it was a terrible idea and talked me out of it." In the comment section, one person asked if there's chance of comeback for Armadillo Aerospace. He subsequently replied that there is the chance that he might "want to try at some point" with his own scheme, giving a sign that Armadillo Aerospace could someday return from hibernation mode.[12]

  1. ^ Foust, Jeff (May 11, 2015). "Exos Seeks To Revive Armadillo Rocket Technology". Space News. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  2. ^ [1]Archived 2002-07-23 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Armadillo Aerospace FAQ Archived January 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Michaels, Patrick (September 14, 2009). "Rocket Men From Mesquite's Armadillo Aerospace Are in Line For $1 Million X Prize". Dallas Observer. Archived from the original on September 18, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
  5. ^ "International Space Fellowship". spacefellowship.com. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  6. ^ Lunar lander qualifies for prize
  7. ^ Perhaps You'll Visit Space In Your Lifetime, After All, Gizmodo, 2010-05-12, accessed May 15, 2010.
  8. ^ "Space Tourism Firm to Offer Suborbital Joy Rides at Lower Costs". Space.com. April 30, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference nsj20130801 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Armadillo Aerospace Vets Start New Space Company 2014-05-19 - Space News reports new company formed by former Armadillo employees.
  11. ^ Foust, Jeff (May 11, 2015). "Exos Seeks To Revive Armadillo Rocket Technology". Space News. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  12. ^ Carmack, John (September 14, 2017). "I showed all of our crashes at the beginning of Armadillo Aerospace, but everyone thought it was a terrible idea and talked me out of it". @ID_AA_Carmack. Retrieved November 15, 2017.