- Space competition
"Space prize redirects here. For the literature prize, see
Howard E. Day Prize "A space competition is an offer of a prize to be given to the first competitor who demonstrates a space vehicle, or a space exploration apparatus, which meets a set of pre-established criteria. It spurs pioneering development in
private spaceflight .X PRIZE
The "Ansari X PRIZE" was a space competition in which the
X PRIZE Foundation offered a US$10,000,000prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. It was modeled after early 20th-centuryaviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight. The prize was won onOctober 4 2004 , the 47th anniversary of theSputnik 1 launch, by theTier One project designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, using the experimentalspaceplane SpaceShipOne . $10 million was awarded to the winner, but more than $100 million was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize.Google Lunar X Prize
"Google Lunar X Prize" calls for teams to compete in successfully launching, landing, and operating a rover on the
lunar surface . The prize awards US$20 million to the first team to land a rover on the moon that successfully roves more than 500 meters and transmits back high definition images and video. There is a $5 million second prize, as well as $5 million in potential bonus prizes for extra features such as roving long distances (greater than 5,000 meters), capturing images of man made objects on the moon, detecting ice on one of the Moon's craters, or surviving a lunar night. The X Prize offers the first prize untilDecember 31 ,2012 , thereafter it offers $15 million untilDecember 31 ,2014 .citeweb|title=Google Lunar X PRIZE Competition Guidelines|url=http://www.googlelunarxprize.org/lunar/competition/guidelines|publisher=googlelunarxprize.org|accessdate=2007-09-16]America's Space Prize
"America's Space Prize" is a US$50 million
orbital spaceflight competition established and funded by hotel entrepreneurRobert Bigelow . The prize would have been awarded to the first US-based privately-funded team to design and build a reusable manned capsule capable of flying 5 astronauts to aBigelow Aerospace inflatable space module. The prize expiresJanuary 10 ,2010 . There must be two flights within 60 days. The teams must be based in the United States of America.Other, sub-million dollar prizes
In addition, there are several minor space competitions, with prizes being less than one million dollars or its equivalent.
Centennial Challenges
Seeking to continue this incentive-based approach, in2006 the X PRIZE Foundation organized the
Wirefly X PRIZE Cup at Las Cruces International Airport inNew Mexico. Cash awards were offered in three areasas part of the NASACentennial Challenges Program:the Beam Power Challenge, the Tether Challenge, andthe Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.Although no contestants fulfilled the criteria necessaryto win any of the three challenges, the competitionelicited promising technology developments anddemonstrated their potential to the general public.Subsequent annual X PRIZE Cups are planned toencourage further innovation in the personal spaceflightindustry, and are expected to feature cash prizesfor vehicle developers who achieve milestones suchas fastest launch turnaround time, maximum altitude,and fastest speed record. [cite web
url = http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/media/DevCon2007.pdf
title = 2007 U.S. Commercial Space Transportation Developments and Concepts: Vehicles, Technologies, and Spaceports
publisher =FAA ]N-Prize
The challenge posed by the N-Prize is to launch a satellite weighing between 9.99 and 19.99 grams into Earth
orbit , and to track it for a minimum of nine orbits. Most importantly, though, the launch budget must be within £999.99 (about $2000) - and must include all of the required non-reuseable hardware and fuels. According to the full rules of the N-Prize, it is "intended to encourage creativity, originality and inventiveness in the face of severe odds and impossible financial restrictions" and "is aimed at amateurs, enthusiasts, would-be boffins and foolhardy optimists."cite web|url=http://www.itwire.com/content/view/18033/1066/|title="Nines" have it for Nanosatellite space race: The N-Prize|date=2008-05-03|accessdate=2008-05-17|publisher=ITWire]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.