Xprize Foundation

For the first X PRIZE, for sub-orbital human spaceflight, see Ansari X Prize.

The original Ansari X Prize was presented on November 6, 2004.

The X PRIZE Foundation is a non-profit prize institute that designs and manages public competitions for the benefit of humanity.

Mission

The mission of the X PRIZE Foundation is to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. The Foundation fosters innovative, high-profile competitions that motivate individuals across all boundaries to solve grand challenges. The prizes are worth millions of dollars and capture the imagination of the public to draw attention to the goal.

The prizes are modeled after the Orteig Prize which offered $25,000 in 1919 for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris. This prize was won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927 which changed the aviation industry forever.

X Prizes are attempting to create revolutions in Energy/Environment, Education, Life Science, Global Entrepreneurship, and Exploration.

Past and current X Prizes

Ansari X PRIZE (space; won Sept. 9, 2004 - Oct. 4, 2004)

The first X PRIZE competition, the Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight, successfully challenged teams to build private spaceships to open the space frontier. The first part of the Ansari X PRIZE requirements was fulfilled by Mike Melvill on September 9, 2004 in Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's spacecraft SpaceShipOne when Melvill broke the 100-km (62.5 mi) mark, internationally recognized as the boundary of outer space. Burt Rutan completed the second part of the requirements on 4 October 2004. As a result, $10 million was awarded to the winner, but more than $100 million was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize. Today, Sir Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and others are actively creating a personal spaceflight industry.

Archon X PRIZE for Genomics (medicine)

The Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the second X PRIZE to be offered by the X PRIZE Foundation, was announced 4 October 2006. The goal of the Archon X PRIZE for Genomics is to greatly reduce the cost and increase the speed of human genome sequencing to create a new era of personalized, predictive and preventive medicine, eventually transforming medical care from reactive to proactive. The Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, a joint effort of the X PRIZE Foundation and the J. Craig Venter Science Foundation, is a $10 million prize to be awarded to the first team to successfully sequence 100 anonymous human genomes in 10 days at a recurring cost of no more than $10,000 per genome.

Progressive Automotive X PRIZE (automotive)

The goal of the Automotive X PRIZE is to inspire a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles to help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change. Teams will compete for multi-million-dollar cash prizes by designing and building super-efficient vehicles that will achieve 100 MPG (2.35 liter/100 kilometer)that are commercially viable.

Google Lunar X PRIZE (space)

The Google Lunar X PRIZE was introduced on 13 September 2007. The goal of the prize is similar to that of the Ansari X PRIZE, to inspire a new generation of private investment in space exploration and technology. The challenge calls for teams to compete in successfully launching, landing, and operating a rover on the lunar surface. The prize awards $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 dollar second prize, as well as $5 million in potential bonuses prizes for extra features such as roving long distances (greater than 5,000 meters) capturing images of man-made objects on the moon, or surviving a lunar night. As of July 2008 the prize remains unclaimed.

Future X prizes

The X Prize Foundation accepts proposals for new X Prizes. There are currently new X Prizes in development for areas such as cancer treatment and expanding human healthspan, combatting global poverty, education and oceanography.

Spotlight on Energy & Environment

The X PRIZE Foundation is developing the Energy & Environment Prize Suite to catalyze a new era of clean, renewable, cost-effective energy with minimal impact on climate and the environment. This effort will result in a suite of prizes with a combined purse value of as much as $100 million. Each prize will seek dramatic, short-term breakthroughs in a critical area.

Events and challenges

X PRIZE Cup

The Wirefly X PRIZE Cup is the result of a partnership between the X PRIZE Foundation and the State of New Mexico that began in 2004 with plans to build the world's first true rocket festival. Now entering its third year, the Cup is an annual three-day Air & Space Expo and the premier destination for space enthusiasts worldwide. In October of 2007 the Cup was held in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force at the Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, NM and included a live air and rocket show.

Pete Conrad Spirit Award

The Pete Conrad Spirit Award, instituted in 2007 and named for American astronaut Pete Conrad, is given to students between the ages of 13 and 18 that develop a new concept to benefit the personal spaceflight industry. This award was presented to the finalists at the 2007 X PRIZE Cup.

Team Michael and Talia were the overall winners of the competition.

Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge

The Lunar Lander Challenge promotes the development of active hovering technology, similar to that required for taking off and landing on the lunar surface. It is an annual competition started in 2006 having two levels of difficulty. Among the teams competing is Armadillo Aerospace.

See also

• DARPA Grand Challenge
• Hydrogen prize

External links

• X Prize Foundation website
• X Prize Cup at Wirefly