Micky Badgero, the leader of Acceleration Engineering, has been studying rockets for over 25 years and has degrees in Electronics and Computer Science. He is currently a graduate student in computer science at Michigan State University, studying artificial intelligence and robotics. That's what it says in his team briefing. The "team" has only one member in it, and there is a plan to manufacture the necessary hardware at the back of the garage in Micky's home.

As you can see from the image on the left, there is no hardware, and the small apparent size of the vehicle makes one have serious doubts as to whether it has much of a chance. One can see multiple engine nozzles in the picture and some very small aerofoil-shaped-legs, which would mean that there would need to be throttle control on all engines, which adds to the complication and safety worries, should such a vehicle ever get built. There are no reports of testing, not even of components. The notion of using the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to provide thrust is reasonable; rocket engines of this sort have been constructed. See the Armadillo site for an example of construction, testing, and imminent use.

There is no known website. Go to the X-Prize site to download the team briefing. As of April 2004, there is still no word from Acceleration Engineering, tending to confirm my suspicions that the exercise was always a non-starter. Having made contact with Micky, post X-Prize, I can confirm that he ran into big expense through material problems, though he had made some headway with construction.