Soon, race head to head in rocket aircraft at 480 km/hr seven meters apart!

Melbourne, Sept 7 (ANI): The Rocket Racing League, which is a proposed racing league that would use rocket powered aircraft to race in a closed-circuit air racetrack, will have aircrafts flying at speeds of up to 480 km/hr.

As preparation for a possible launch late next year is going on, chief operating officer Mike D'Angelo said the league had every intention of holding races outside the US also.

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.

The pilots can see the tracks with augmented Targo racing helmets made by Israel-based defence company Elbit Systems.

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.

It is 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.

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, 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," News.com.au quoted him as saying. (ANI)