Ansari X PRIZE

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Ansari X PRIZE
AnsariXPrize.jpg
Prize Status: COMPLETE.
Introduced May 2006
Prize Amount $10,000,000 first place prize for successful completion of task.
OVERALL PRIZE AMOUNT: $10,000,000
Sponsor X PRIZE Foundation along with various donors including the Ansari family.
Completed by Scaled Composites

Contents

Background

The X PRIZE was first proposed by Peter Diamandis in an address to the NSS International Space Development Conference in 1995. This goal was selected to help encourage the space industry in the private sector, which is why the entries were not allowed to have any government funding. It aimed to demonstrate that spaceflight can be affordable and accessible to corporations and civilians, opening the door to commercial spaceflight and space tourism. It is also hoped that competition will breed innovation, introducing new low-cost methods of reaching Earth orbit, and ultimately pioneering low-cost space travel and unfettered human expansion into the solar system.

The X PRIZE was modeled after many prizes from the early 20th century that helped prod the development of air flight, including most notably the $25,000 Orteig Prize that spurred Charles Lindbergh to make his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

Created in May 1996 and initially called just "X PRIZE", it was renamed "Ansari X PRIZE" on May 6, 2004 following a multi-million dollar donation from entrepreneurs Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari.

Guidelines

The competition goal was adopted from the SpaceCub project, demonstration of a private vehicle capable of flying a pilot to the edge of space, defined as 100 km altitude. A US$10,000,000 prize was to be granted to the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.

Prizes & Prize Contributors

The total purse of the Ansari X Prize was $30 million (USD).

Completion

Scaled Composites's Tier One project made two successful competitive flights, X1 on September 29, 2004 piloted by Mike Melvill to 102.9 km and X2 on October 4, 2004 piloted by Brian Binnie to 112 km. They thus won the prize, which was awarded on November 6, 2004. (Note: the winning team is referred to by several names at various times: Tier One, Scaled Composites, and Mojave Aerospace Ventures.)

Impact

While many were skeptical about the Ansari X PRIZE ever finding completion, or how much participation would be broadly seen, the Ansari X PRIZE demonstrated the strength of the incentivized prize model, and left a powerful legacy on both the space industry and innovative economic practices as a whole. The Ansari X PRIZE's success resulted in the development of more prizes by the X PRIZE Foundation, as well as by other organizations in varied fields.

It also set off served as one of the major markers of the emerging importance of NewSpace companies. It was emphasized by the X PRIZE Foundation for competitors not to use government funding for their development, which meant the final result, a successful launch, was done entirely on a private level. Since then, there has more and more private space corporations appearing and growing, with increased confidence in them by both the public and private sector.

Contestants

Links

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