Ansari X Prize

Ansari X Prize, previously called the X Prize but famous following a donation of the family Ansari, is a Prix of ten million American dollars which will be allotted to the first Governmental organization which will be able to launch in the space a space vehicle manned. SpaceShipOne gained the price the October 4th 2004.

X Prize is designed to encourage space industry in the Private sector, reason for which the candidates cannot have subsidies of a government. It aims at showing that the Space flight can be accessible and accessible to the civilians and the companies, opening the door with the commercial space flights and the space Tourisme. He also hopes that the competition will create technological Innovation S, introducing new methods at low prices to enter in Terrestrial orbit. If all occurs as envisaged, gaining them of X Prize could at low prices become the pioneers of the space Voyage and the unslung expansion of the human being in the Solar system.

Twenty-seven teams throughout the world take part, energy of voluntary hobbyists to broad operations carried out by companies. Some teams did the one with their tests and one, SpaceShipOne (manufactured by Scaled Composites), accomplished a media flight of test at full altitude of their vehicle the June 21st 2004.

X Prize is modelled according to many prices of the beginning of 20th century which encouraged the development of the Aviation, in particular the Prix Orteig of 25.000 $ which pushed Charles Lindbergh to make his flight solo with the top of the Atlantic Ocean. NASA develops similar prices called the Centennial Challenges.

Contest

The price will be allotted to the first team which can launch a Space vehicle carrying at least three team members (or a human pilot and the equivalent in Ballast of both others) at an altitude of 100 kilometers and then repeat the same operation with the same space vehicle in the two weeks. It is a suborbital Vol which reaches the limits of space, as defined by the International Aeronautical Fédération, but the Terrestrial orbit does not reach. The space vehicle will have to be able to land on the same site as that of takeoff.

The two flights must be carried out with the same vehicle. Except for fuel, not more than 10% of the vehicle cannot be replaced between the flights; the remainder of the vehicle must be re-used. Even the Space shuttle of NASA does not meet these criteria, since it is necessary more than two weeks to prepare a shuttle between the flights. The vehicle must be intact and theoretically reusable after the second vol. And, of course, the crew must return unscathed.

Rules of the contest

The participants must recognize and apply inter alia the rules described below.

1. The vehicle will have to be financed in a private way. The participants will not receive any governmental financial aid, except the possibility of using their installations (warehouses, sites of research), if those are normally free access to the public. They will be able to also use parts already carried out by these agencies, even government, in the condition which these parts are already accessible on the government contract.

2. The vehicle will have to carry out two flights under 14 days. Each flight will have to take along at least a person at a minimal altitude of 100 km. The vehicle will have the capacity (in volume and weight) to have on its board at least three people of adult size (1 m 88, 90 kg). Each person will have to be able to enter, to sit down and to stick before takeoff.

3. The crew will have to return in physical good condition, judged by members of the committee. It will be the same for the state of the vehicle, namely if the vehicle is reusable.

Organization

Created on May 18th 1996 and initially called X Prize, it was renamed Ansari X Prize the May 6th 2004 following a gift of the Entrepreneur S Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari born in Iran.

The Fondation X Prize (based with Saint Louis, Missouri) maintains a list of the organizations registered to contribute to the price. Some companies developed their vehicle in secrecy, without publicly announcing their plans until they ask the authorizations of flight air/space of their local government. Such is the case of Scaled Composites, a company which remained unknown as a candidate until in April 2003. This list does not contain in particular the traditional companies of access such as Boeing and Lockheed, that much in industry believes unable to replace their current space freight vehicles by alternatives to low costs. These criticisms advance for proof several failures of attempts that point to reach, the such project X-33, under contract with NASA and other agencies of the government of the the United States. However the foundation X Prize in itself does not prevent these companies from taking part, as long as they can prove that their efforts on the project will be free of any subsidy of the government.

For the moment, the financing of X Prize expired the January 11th 2005. Consequently, the majority of the teams still in the race precipitated to carry out front launching. Whereas the list of the teams at the head can seem obvious while being based on the news and the updates of the Web sites, any team developing in secrecy could suddenly appear on the playing field. SpaceShipOne gained the test in time.

List Participants

Acceleration Engineering
Advent Launch Services
Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Assoc. (ARCA)
Armadillo Aerospace
Bristol-board Spaceplanes, Ltd
Canadian Arrow
The da Vinci Project
Pablo of Leon & Associates
Discraft Corporation
Flight Exploration
Fundamental Technology Systems
HARC
IT Aerospace Technologies
Interorbital Systems
Kelly Space and Technology
Lone Star Space Access Corporation
Microphone-Space, Inc.
PanAero, Inc.
Pioneer Rocketplane, Inc.
Scaled Composites, LLC
Space Transport Corporation
Suborbital Starchaser Industries
Corporation
TGV Rockets
Vanguard Spacecraft

List principal givers, by order of donation

Anousheh Ansari and Amir Ansari
First the USA Bank (BankOne), 1.000.000 US$
New Spirit off St Louis Organization
Foundation Danforth, 500.000 US$
Tom Clancy, 100.000 - 500.000 US$
J.S. McDonnell (McDonnell Douglas)
Andrew Taylor
Enterprise Rent-have-because
Andrew Beal
Beal Bank
Saint Louis Science Center
Saint Louis

Dependant articles

NASA Centennial Challenges
a price similar and supported by the team of X Prize: the Mr. Prize or Price of the Mathusalem Mouse, which aims to the radical increase in the human life expectancy.
Anousheh Ansari

External bonds

X PRIZE CUP
X PRIZE FOUNDATION
X PRIZE Space Race News Blog
space Tourism: X-Prize, SpaceShipOne, current events, interviews…
French-speaking File on X-Prize and its participants

Random links: