Contest Is Viewed As The Genesis Of Commercial Human Space
Flight
On October 4, the X PRIZE Foundation will celebrate the fifth
anniversary of the largest prize in history, the $10 Million Ansari
X PRIZE -- won by the Mojave Aerospace Ventures team for the
historic flights of SpaceShipOne. Led by famed aerospace designer
Burt Rutan and backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Mojave
Aerospace Ventures was the first private team to build and launch a
spacecraft capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers above
the earth's surface twice within two weeks. The team made world
history when it achieved this feat on the anniversary of the
historic launch of Sputnik in 1957 -- the first man made object
that entered earth's orbit and opened the space age.
When SpaceShipOne touched down on October 4, 2004 and won the
$10 million Ansari X PRIZE, a new billion dollar industry was born
and Spaceflight was no longer viewed as the exclusive realm of
governments.
Today, SpaceShipOne is displayed at the Smithsonian National Air
& Space Museum as a milestone of flight achievement next to
Charles Lindbergh's plane, The Spirit of St. Louis. It was
Lindbergh's flight that inspired the Ansari X PRIZE.
"The success of the Ansari X PRIZE has proven that incentivized
competition stimulates growth in industries that have the potential
to benefit the entire world," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. "I think
ultimately it gave the Ansari X PRIZE teams around the world
permission to dream and dare to think about building private
spaceships. By creating the structure of the competition, it
validated the importance and the viability of private
spaceflight."
Sharing the same belief as Diamandis that a safe, usable private
spaceship could be built, Anousheh Ansari, and her family signed on
to become the title sponsor of the $10 million X PRIZE. The funding
toward the title sponsorship resulted in over $100 million spent by
teams vying to do what Mojave Aerospace Ventures was ultimately
able to achieve. Shortly after the awarding of the Ansari X PRIZE,
Ansari achieved another first and became the first female private
space explorer spending a week aboard the International Space
Station. Continuing to believe in creating advancements for
humanity through incentivized competitions, Ansari and her brother,
Amir, are members of the X PRIZE Foundation's Vision Circle and
Board of Trustees.
"Being a title sponsor for the Ansari X PRIZE was one of the
best philanthropic investments my family has ever made," said
Anousheh Ansari. "It was wonderful to see how our money was
leveraged almost ten to one and to see so many teams from all over
the world compete for the prize. It is one of our proudest moments
to know that we played a role in making this historical event
happen and that we are a part of that history."
Following the success of the Ansari X PRIZE, the X PRIZE
Foundation, whose mission is to "bring about radical breakthroughs
for the benefit of humanity," was inspired to expand its focus
beyond space to include developing and managing competitions in
four key prize groups: Exploration (Space and Oceans), Energy &
Environment, Life Sciences and Education & Global
Development.
Currently, there are three active competitions to spur
innovation that have been launched by the X PRIZE Foundation:
- Archon X PRIZE for Genomics -- ($10 million)
- Google Lunar X PRIZE -- ($30 million)
- Progressive Automotive X PRIZE -- ($10 million)
The X PRIZE Foundation continues to further explore future
competitions through its prize development. Prize concepts
include:
- Health X PRIZE
- Ocean X PRIZE Suite
- Energy and Environment X PRIZE Suite
The Foundation has an ongoing goal of launching one or two
prizes per year in areas where innovation is stalled or market
failures exist.
Robert K. Weiss, President and Vice Chair, stated, "We had hoped
that a private space industry would be created within a few years
of the Ansari X PRIZE being won. We did not foresee the reality
that unfolded -- Virgin Galactic started during the competition
itself. The original $10 million prize has grown into a $1+ billion
industry. That's a leverage of 100 to 1 from the prize purse to the
industry impact; that's key to what an X PRIZE is all about."