Race for the X-Prize

Published November 2003 - Artemis Magazine

Since before the days of Sputnik and the Mercury space program kids have had dreams of becoming astronauts and going into the dark void of space; I know that I did. To this day it still is yearning for many. From space one can get a unique perspective of the world in which we live. And who hasn't wondered what it would feel like to drift weightless?

Unfortunately, unless you were to become an astronaut through one of the national space agencies, space was beyond the layperson's grasp. And considering the number of people that actually do try out for the space programs and the regime required to get through, the odds of the average person getting into space is almost nil.

But the tide is turning on this situation. As we have seen in recent time, private citizens can indeed now make it into space, with Dennis Tito being the first. Without a doubt, space is an open area for both entrepreneurship and tourism. Helping this dream along is a contest which heralds back to the early days of aviation, the X-prize.

Founded in 1996, the X-prize is similar to the awards and prizes which private citizens and organizations offered in the early days of flight. These awards were used to create competition to drive the aviation industry forward. By 1929, over 50 prizes had been offered in the aeronautical arena. One such prize was the Orteig Prize, started by wealthy hotel owner Raymond Orteig in 1919. In order to win the prize, a person or persons had to fly non-stop across the Atlantic from New York to Paris. Nine separate attempts were made, but the man who collected the $25,000 prize was Charles Lindbergh in 1927, beating out larger, more funded flyers and craft by using a single engine plane that was "off the shelf". In the quest for this prize, however, over $400,000 was spent in the aviation industry, which resulted in improved aircraft, avionics, and private citizens' interest in the new trend of flying.

In completing his trans-Atlantic crossing, Charles Lindbergh helped show that the main barrier to achieving goals and breaking previous barriers was a matter of the mind, not of the technology, and was financially feasible. This spirit of competition, however, was not only in the early days of aviation. The Kremer Prize, for example, was set out for the first human-powered flight. Originally set at £5,000 British Pounds in 1959, the amount was later raised to £50,000 before it was claimed in 1977. Within a few weeks, it was later re-issued, this time for the first human-powered flight over the 37.5 kilometers of the English Channel, and for a sum of £100,000. This was claimed just two years later by the Gossamer Albatross...