BEIJING, Oct. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Armadillo Aerospace on Sunday failed to win a NASA-based prize at this year's X Prize Cup air and rocket show in New Mexico, after the company's spacecraft burst into flames on liftoff, media reported.

    After a loud explosion, a pool of fire spread approximately 30 feet away from the rocket, according to one photographer. Fire trucks were summoned, but the fire was out before their arrival.

    The blast marked the second year in a row that the Texas-based Armadillo team and its popular leader, computer gaming guru John Carmack, fell just short of snaring 350,000 U.S. dollars of NASA's money in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.

    The fiery end came as a deep disappointment to the Armadillo rocketeers, who thought they were virtually assured of winning something at this year's X Prize Cup.

    "Today is officially a bad day," said Carmack.

    However, Bretton Alexander, the X Prize Foundation's Executive Director, said, despite the failed launches, he considered the event a smash hit. The military estimated three-day attendance, based on military photos, at 80,000 -- up from 15,000 in 2006 -- including 6,000 students.

    The Lunar Lander Challenge, which is backed by a total of 2 million dollars in potential prizes from NASA's Centennial Challenges program, is aimed at encouraging innovations that could lead to more efficient landers for exploring the moon and other planets.

    The challenge calls for rocket-powered craft to lift off from one launch pad, rise to a height of at least 50 meters, move over to another pad 100 meters away, land and refuel, then retrace its steps back to the beginning - all in 150 minutes or less.

    The Level 1 challenge requires 90 seconds of rocket-powered hang time, and offers a 350,000-dollar top prize. The Level 2 challenge raises the bar to 180 seconds of flight, with a landing on a rugged, moonlike surface.

    (Agencies)