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?

You may be interested in reading the following related posts:

1. Top Ten Things to Do About Competitors’ IP
2. Competition for Kid Inventors
3. economy tied to innovation
4. deliberate innovation
5. Take time to smell the shamrocks…and invent

Posted by Douglas Sorocco, October 4, 2004 at 9:38 pm
Permalink: X Prize – spurring innovation
1 Comment

Comments

On October 5th, 2004 at 2:14pm Jake said…

No kidding. And did you hear that the second trip up they just completed had SpaceShipOne painted up in the Virgin Galatic colors? Apparently they’ve already inked a deal with Virgin’s Richard Branson to start working on paid space travel. Sign me up!!