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October 04, 2004

X Prize - spurring innovation

We all know by now that a privately financed craft succeeded in taking a pilot into space for the second time in less than two weeks. In doing so, SpaceShipOne wins the so-called X Prize of $10 million for the team funded by Paul Allen, a founder of Microsoft.

More interesting is the story behind the X Prize - according to an editorial in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (free subscription):

Inspired by the Orteig Prize, a $25,000 award collected by Charles Lindbergh for the first solo airplane crossing of the Atlantic, Diamandis reasoned that a high-profile, big-bucks competition might galvanize some like-minded dreamers to try breaking the government monopoly on human space flight. As he went about fundraising for his X Prize, however, he soon discovered that his idea was more appealing to the imagination than investors.

The $10 million X Prize wasn't the prime motivation for Burt Rutan, the designer of SpaceShipOne.  It was the challenge of innovation:

That challenge -- and, OK, the glory -- are what motivated Rutan to get into the new space race. A longtime designer/manufacturer of build-it-yourself, high-performance aircraft, Rutan had already claimed another important title by building a plane that could circle the globe without refueling. Now he put his ideas to work on a lightweight spaceship that would burn rubber and laughing gas, fold its wings like a badminton shuttlecock to shed speed on re-entry, and be carried aloft to launch altitude on a mother ship that boasts its own innovative design.

So while the money spurred on the competition, it wasn't the sole reason for the intense interest (especially considering it cost approximately $25 million to complete).  Competing for the glory of innovation and inventiveness.  What better story for budding scientists and inventors?

Posted by Douglas Sorocco at 09:38 PM.
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