The Toronto entry in an international space flight competition will go nose cone to nose cone with an American competitor in an attempt to win the Ansari X Prize this fall.

The da Vinci Project, flush with a new primary sponsor, says it will make the first of two required flights over the prairie sky of Kindersley, Sask., Oct. 2. The craft will be launching within days of the Sept. 29 flight of the leading X Prize contender, the well-financed and tested American SpaceShipOne.

'We want to win the X Prize. We've got a very good shot at winning the X Prize. We are determined to win the X Prize,' said da Vinci team leader Brian Feeney at a jammed news conference yesterday at the Downsview Park hangar where the Wild Fire Mk VI is being built.

'But the most important thing is that we compete for the X Prize.' [CLB: Exactly.]

There's far more than bragging rights at stake. The first past the post -- making two successful flights to a height of 100 kilometres within two weeks while carrying a specified payload -- will pocket $10 million (U.S.)."