Rocket Racing League finally gets off the ground

The Rocket Racing League finally got off the ground on Tuesday, but it has delayed its first exhibition race yet again.

The league’s Rocket Racer took to the skies for the first time at an air show in Oshkosh, Wis. on Tuesday.

Here’s video of the flight:

“Today was truly a milestone not only in the history of the Rocket Racing League and aviation in general, but in the future of sports and entertainment,” said Rocket Racing League founder and CEO Granger Whitelaw. “This first flight proves that by bringing together the technological and business development power of the aerospace industry, we have changed the future of sports and entertainment.”

The league plans additional flight demonstrations on Friday and Saturday at the EAA AirVenture air show.

But this was all supposed to happen long ago. The league originally said the first exhibition race would be held in October 2006 at the X Prize Cup in Las Cruces. That didn’t happen. Most recently, the league said it would hold exhibition races this year at the Wisconsin air show, in October at the X Prize Cup in Alamogordo and in November at Aviation Nation, an air show in Las Vegas.

According to the New York Times, the league still plans exhibition races later this year in New Mexico and Nevada.

The company hasn’t been able to recruit teams as easily as it originally anticipated and has had funding delays. But it broke ground on its first hangars at the Las Cruces airport in January and has recruited several teams to participate. It plans to make Las Cruces its worldwide headquarters.

The league plans races that pit up to 10 racers against each other on virtual, closed-circuit tracks in the sky. The racers can fly at up to 320 mph, and the league plans to eventually hold races at Spaceport America.