X Prize Foundation - Prizes and Events Overseen - Past Contests - Ansari X PRIZE For Suborbital Spaceflight

Ansari X PRIZE For Suborbital Spaceflight

The Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight was the first prize from the foundation. It successfully challenged teams to build private spaceships capable of carrying three people and fly two times within two weeks to open the space frontier. The first part of the Ansari X PRIZE requirements was fulfilled by Mike Melvill on September 29, 2004 in the Burt Rutan designed, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen financed spacecraft SpaceShipOne when Melvill broke the 100-kilometer (62.5 mi) mark, internationally recognized as the boundary of outer space. Brian Binnie completed the second part of the requirements on October 4, 2004. As a result, US$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.

Awarding this first prize gave the X PRIZE Foundation as much publicity as the winners themselves. After the 2004 success there was ample media coverage to afford both Scaled Composites and the X PRIZE Foundation additional support for them to expand and continue to pursue their aims. Following this early success several other X PRIZES were announced that have yet to be awarded despite various attempts to meet the requirements.

The Ansari X PRIZE won the Space Foundation's Douglas S. Morrow Public Outreach Award in 2005. The award is given annually to an individual or organization that has made significant contributions to public awareness of space programs.