I don't know how many of you are familiar with those guys, but to cut the long story short they are working on "computer-controlled LOX/ethanol rocket vehicles". Their site is here and it documents the stuff they've been doing over the years.
I'm posting this because there's an awesome hover flight video of one of their vehicles, complete with onboard footage and multiple camera angles. A treat for any rocket aficionado.
There are two recent videos posted on their recent update, this is the one I'm talking about specifically: http://media.armadilloaerospace.com/2007_06_03/LLC1demo.mpg.

You just gotta love stuf that defies gravity!

The founder and chief engineer of Armadillo Aerospace is John Carmack, the ID interactive CG guru. Somewhat like Elon Musk in going from an information technology business into rocketry.

Yep, I kinda envy them - earning enough money so they can pursue their rather expensive hobbies like that. Must be loads of fun.

It really is very reminiscent of the early days of aviation...new ideas, new directions. Perhaps we'll see a 21st Century analog of this, albeit with much less slapstick and much more safety.

That was an amazing video, ugordan. I didn't realize private enterprises were doing rocketry stuff that well. Were those programmed flights and landings, or manually controlled? In related news, I heard tonight that Northrup Grumman boosted their ownership of Scaled Composites from 40% to 100%.