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INTRODUCTION
The X PRIZE Foundation was established in 1994 as an educational nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring private, entrepreneurial advancements in space travel. Through the X PRIZE -- an international competition that will award a $10 million cash prize to the first private team who safely launches and lands a vehicle capable of transporting three people on two consecutive suborbital flights to 100 kilometers altitude -- the Foundation plans to challenge present notions that only governments can send people and cargo into space.
The X PRIZE has been created for one purpose: to realize the dream of spaceflight for the general public. New and innovative spaceships will be created in pursuit of the prize. These vehicles will enable such markets as rapid intercontinental passenger and cargo transport, space tourism, and access to the bounty of resources available in space.
COMPETITION:
Structured competition provides a focus, a point of light,
a clearly defined finishing line to tempt those who dare to achieve that which
has not been done before. Prizes help to focus unfocused energy.
Prizes allow talent and new ideas to rise to the top,
without "picking" a winner.
They provide a spirit of competition which has been one of the most important
driving forces since the dawn of humanity.
AIR/SPACE PRIZES:
In the early days of aviation several important prizes were offered to people
who dared to "push the envelope" of technology and pilot their aircraft faster,
farther, higher, better, and more efficiently.
These prizes had the effect of accelerating the rate at which aviation and technology
developed, bringing sooner the day when average citizens could fly from city to city
as they wished.
As we approach the new
millennium, we realize the great benefits to humankind space will provide
in the coming decades. Indeed, space beckons humanity. In order to make sooner the day
when average citizens will buy tickets into space, the X PRIZE Foundation will raise
the money to award prizes to those who find a way to carry people into space
more inexpensively, easily, and safely. These prizes, of which the X PRIZE is the first,
bring romance back to the arena of space exploration. They will excite the young
generations and initiate long-term, challenging efforts. Once the X PRIZE has been won,
we will move to more ambitious prize undertakings including Earth orbit,
the Moon and Mars.
From The CHAIRMAN of the X PRIZE Foundation
Welcome to the X PRIZE!
The X PRIZE was founded on May 18, 1996 in St. Louis for the specific purpose of stimulating the creation of a new generation of launch vehicles designed to carry passengers into space. Today if you are interested in flying there are only two options, the US Space Shuttle or the Russian Soyuz, and neither of these are available at a reasonable cost or on a regular basis to the general public. The problem is not the lack of financial resources among today's adventure tourists, nor the demand in the marketplace, but specifically the lack of licensed, low-cost, reliable vehicles. Taking a lesson from the history books, we modeled the X PRIZE after the early aviation prizes. Between 1905 and 1935, hundreds of aviation prizes stimulated the create of very different aircraft designs, each of which explored different regions of flight and different mechanisms for optimizing speed, safety and low cost travel. Today the X PRIZE is doing the same. Since our inception three years ago over 16 teams have registered for the competition and we have raised over $5M towards the prize.
Before the X PRIZE was established the idea of focusing on sub-orbital flight did not exist. Our efforts have put such a first step on the map. Today, the sixteen teams are designing totally novel methods of getting you and me into space in an affordable, repeatable and safe method.
The X PRIZE rules were carefully selected in cooperation with representatives from the Association of Space Explorers and our X PRIZE Committee. We have established each rule for a very specific purpose:
- Requiring that the vehicle be privately funded and privately constructed means
that a large government cannot come in and win the competition in a manner
which does not lead to economically viable tourist capability.
- We chose 100km altitude because it is beyond the official 50-miles that
the US Air Force recognizes as "worthy of astronaut wings" but not so high
that the reentry speed requires exotic heat shielding.
- Requiring a vehicle which can fly three people means that X PRIZE registrants
will be designing vehicles which can turn around after the competition and begin
to generate revenue traffic following their certification.
- Finally, requiring that the same vehicle fly twice within two weeks means
that cost per reflight is only the cost of fuel and the limited "touch-labor"
that can be applied in this short period of time.
Therefore, we hope that cost per seat will be reasonable and affordable to many.
Best regards,
Peter H. Diamandis
Chairman and President
To The Official X PRIZE Web Site
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