X Prize (fund)

The idea of ​​the X-Prize Foundation came from businessman Peter Diamandis . The foundation was established in Rockville, New Jersey . The Foundation is now based in the city of St. Louis , Missouri .

• 1994 - Peter Diamandis read the book of the pilot, Charles Lindbergh , who first crossed the Atlantic in 1927 on the Spirit of St. Louis plane. For the implementation of this flight was established prize (prize Raymond Orteyg - $ 25 000), which gave rise to the spirit of competition and competition on both sides of the ocean. So, as a result of the competition there was a breakthrough in the development of the use of aviation. Peter has an idea to use this mechanism (the prize - as a way to stimulate private, non-state, developments in a certain area) for the realization of his dream of traveling into space .

• 1995 - Diamandis with the help of Byron K. Lichtenberg (Byron K. Lichtenberg), Colette M. Bevis (Colette M. Bevis) and Greg E. Marignac (Gregg E. Maryniak) founded the X-Prize Foundation. The fund received initial funding from Tom Rogers and John McLucas. The fund was originally located in Rockville, Maryland (Rockville, Maryland). The concept of the Prize was announced in the magazine A Stars (Ad Astra Magazine), the National Space Society (National Space Society). [one]

• 1996 The meeting of the founders of the Foundation with some representatives of the city of St. Louis . In particular, with Alfred H. Kurt (Alfred H. Kerth). It was decided that the Fund would move to St. Louis , which would provide financial support for the Fund. A. Kert proposed to recreate the same mechanism that was implemented when creating a fund for organizing a trans-Atlantic flight. It was proposed that the New Spirit of St. Louis (New Spirit of St. Louis Organization) group, consisting of 100 business leaders of the city, each of which will contribute $ 25,000, will be created. On May 18, 1996, at the St. Louis Scientific Center, Peter Diamandis announced a competition for receiving the Prize . The first prize was announced for the construction of a private spacecraft capable of delivering a man to near space using a reusable spacecraft. At this stage, the main objective of the X-Prize was the promotion of commercial space flights, as did the Orteyg Prize in the XX century with aviation.

• 1998 - collected the first $ 5 million bonus fund.
• 2004 The X Prize was renamed Ansari X Prize .

• Peter Diamandis - Head of Foundation
• Anoushe Ansari - Member of the Board of Trustees

• X Prize / Ansari X Prize - The first project of the Foundation: a premium of $ 10 million for a suborbital flight performed by a private company twice within 2 weeks on a single ship of multiple use. The contest conditions were announced on May 18, 1996. The prize was awarded on November 6, 2004 for the flight aboard the SpaceShipOne .

• X PRIZE Cup - the annual competition for the Cup X-Prize. The decision to hold the competition was announced in July 2003. The first competition was held in October 2005. However, until the “races of the spacecraft” until it came. Now it is a kind of exhibition of the latest achievements of private astronautics. During the exhibition, various competitions are also held, for example, on the creation of a landing module for a soft landing on the moon. [2] (inaccessible link) (inaccessible link from 04/09/2013 [2158 days] - history , copy )

• Archon X-Prize for Genomics - Second prize of the Foundation: a prize of 10 million US dollars to a private group of scientists who proposes a method for deciphering 100 human genomes in no more than 10 days at a cost of no more than $ 10,000 per gene. The goal of the project is to create new drugs, based on the analysis of the human genome, to create personalized, predictive and preventive medicine, ultimately transforming medical care from reactive to preventive. The competition was announced on October 4, 2006 [3] (inaccessible link from 04-09-2013 [2158 days] - history , copy ) [4] (inaccessible link from 04-09-2013 [2158 days] - history , copy ) , canceled in August 2013 ^[2] .

• WTN X PRIZE - World Technology Network (WTN) in conjunction with the X-Prize - a virtual think tank that includes hundreds of individual researchers, corporate employees and organizations that implement various innovations in science and technology. It is planned to present multi-million prizes for major achievements, with the help of which it will be possible to improve the life of mankind and solve the most serious problems. The main areas of WTN X PRIZE are planned health care, information technology, alternative energy sources, ecology and material sciences, including nanotechnology.

• Progressive Automotive X Prize - $ 10 million for a car that spends no more than 1 gallon (2.35 liters) of gasoline per 100 km of run, and the car should not be a concept car, but be ready for mass production. The purpose of the competition is to reduce dependence on oil and gas, to improve the ecology of the planet. [five]

• Google Lunar X PRIZE - $ 20 million of the first private company that, before the end of 2017, managed to send its moon rover to the Earth satellite, which successfully made a soft landing on the moon, will move more than 500 meters across its surface and transmit high-resolution images and video to Earth . Additional bonuses are provided (up to $ 5 million for additional success in the project). Competition announced September 13, 2007.

• Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE ^[3] - $ 10 million for the creation of technology that can, without the participation of doctors, reveal one of the proposed diseases. The competition was launched on January 10, 2012.

• Global Learning XPRIZE ^[4] - $ 15 million for creating software that helps children in developing countries learn to read, write, and arithmetic. Competition launched on September 22, 2014.

• Adult Literacy XPRIZE ^[5] - $ 7 million for improving adult literacy rates. Competition announced June 8, 2015.

• NRG Cosia Carbon XPRIZE ^[6] - $ 20 million for the creation of technology, leveling the harm from carbon dioxide emissions. Competition announced September 29, 2015.

• Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE ^[7] - $ 7 million for the development of an autonomous system for conducting underwater research at a depth of four kilometers. Competition announced December 14, 2015.

• IBM Watson AI X Prize ^[8] - $ 5 million for the use of artificial intelligence technology to solve one of the pressing problems of our time. Competition announced February 17, 2016.

Archon Genomics XPRIZE, was announced on October 4, 2006. Archon Genomics XPRIZE's goal was to significantly reduce costs and increase the sequencing speed of the human genome to create a new era of personalized, predictable and preventive medicine, ultimately turning medical care from reactive to active. A prize fund of $ 10 million was promised to the first team that can build the device and use it to organize a sequence of 100 human genomes for 10 days or less, with an accuracy of no more than one error for every 100,000 bases that accurately cover at least 98% genome, and with a periodic cost of not more than $ 1,000 per genome.

If several teams tried to take part at the same time, and more than one team fulfilled all the criteria, then the teams would be ranked according to completion time. No more than three teams would have been estimated and would have divided the prize as follows: $ 7.5 million to the winner and $ 2.5 million to the runner-up, subject to the success of two teams at once, or 7 million - 2 million and 1 million dollars, subject to three.

The actual events of the competition were originally planned twice a year, while all the suitable teams made it possible to try, starting exactly at the same time as the other teams. This was changed to one contest, scheduled for September 5, 2013 until October 1, 2013, which was canceled on August 22, 2013. The rationale for the change was announced by the CEO: “Today, companies can do it for less than $ 5,000 per genome, in a few days or less — and are moving quickly towards the goals we set for the prize. For this reason, we decided to cancel XPRIZE for the first time. ^[9]

• The X Prize Foundation is one of the permanent sponsors of the Methuselah Foundation , which presents awards for success in the field of anti-aging

• The official website of the fund