America's Space Prize was a US$50 million
space competition in
orbital spaceflight
An orbital spaceflight (or orbital flight) is a spaceflight in which a spacecraft is placed on a trajectory where it could remain in space for at least one orbit. To do this around the Earth, it must be on a free trajectory which has an altit ...
established and funded in 2004 by hotel entrepreneur
Robert Bigelow. The prize would have been awarded to the first US-based privately funded team to design and build a reusable crewed capsule capable of flying 5 astronauts to a
Bigelow Aerospace
Bigelow Aerospace was an American space design and manufacturing company which ceased operations in 2020. It was an aeronautics and outer space technology company which manufactured and developed expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aero ...
inflatable space module. The criteria also required the capsule be recovered and flown again in 60 days. The prize expired January 10, 2010, without a winner or any test flights attempted. The teams were required to have been based in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
History
The prize was announced by Bigelow on 17 December 2003—the 100th anniversary of the
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...
first powered
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
flight.
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Prize rules
A set of ten criteria were set up in order for a contestant to win the prize.
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# The spacecraft must reach a minimum altitude of 400 kilometers (approximately 250 miles);
# The spacecraft must reach a minimum velocity sufficient to complete two (2) full orbits at altitude before returning to Earth;
# The spacecraft must carry no less than a crew of five (5) people;
# The spacecraft must dock or demonstrate its ability to dock with a Bigelow Aerospace inflatable space habitat, and be capable of remaining on station at least six (6) months;
# The spacecraft must perform two (2) consecutive, safe and successful orbital missions within a period of sixty (60) calendar days, subject to Government regulations;
# No more than twenty percent (20%) of the spacecraft may be composed of expendable hardware;
# The contestant must be domiciled in the United States of America.
# The contestant must have its principal place of business in the United States of America;
# The Competitor must not accept or utilize government development funding related to this contest of any kind, nor shall there be any government ownership of the competitor. Use in government test facilities shall be permitted; and
# The spacecraft must complete its two (2) missions safely and successfully, with all five (5) crew members aboard for the second qualifying flight, before the competition's deadline of Jan. 10, 2010
Contestants
Since the launch of the prize, 40 companies had expressed interest, but either did not have the money which would apparently be needed, or, in the case of SpaceX, were ineligible due to having accepted government funding. Despite the lack of interest, Bigelow did not revise the prize rules, planning instead to seek transportation to space other ways.
A few contestants have been:
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Interorbital Systems
Interorbital Systems (IOS) is an American space development company based in Mojave, California. It was established in 1996 by Roderick and Randa Milliron. As of October 2023, the company is in development stage for three orbital launch vehicle ...
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JP Aerospace
JP Aerospace is an American company that aims to achieve affordable access to space. Their main activities include high-atmospheric lighter-than-air flights carrying cameras or miniature experiments called PongSats and minicubes. They are also en ...
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SpaceDev
SpaceDev, a part of the "Space Systems Business" of Sierra Nevada Corporation, is prominent for its spaceflight and Microsatellite (spaceflight), microsatellite work. It designed and built components for the hybrid rocket motors for Paul Allen ...
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SpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., commonly referred to as SpaceX, is an America, American space technology company headquartered at the SpaceX Starbase, Starbase development site in Starbase, Texas. Since its founding in 2002, the compa ...
See also
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Orteig Prize
The Orteig Prize was a reward of $25,000 offered in 1919 by New York City hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first Allies of World War I, Allied aviator, or aviators, to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice versa.Bak. Pages 28 and 29. Se ...
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Ansari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 () prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. It was modeled af ...
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Mprize
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N-prize
The N-Prize (the "N" stands for "Nanosatellite" or "Negligible Resources".) is an inducement prize contest intended to "encourage creativity, originality and inventiveness in the face of severe odds and impossible financial restrictions" and thu ...
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List of space technology awards
This list of space technology awards is an index to articles about notable awards related to space technology. This includes awards for development of spacecraft, satellites, space stations, and support infrastructure, equipment, and procedures. ...
References
External links
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America's Space Prize in ''Encyclopedia Astronautica''SPACE.COM (November 8, 2004)
{{Space tourism
Space organizations
Space-related awards
Challenge awards
Private spaceflight
2004 establishments in the United States
2010 disestablishments in the United States