• The non-profit X PRIZE Foundation sponsors high-profile competitions to encourage the development of breakthrough technologies for the benefit of humanity. The Foundation awards multi-million dollar prizes in an effort to spur innovation in the fields of education, life sciences, global entrepreneurship and space exploration.

• 1. Founder: Peter H. Diamandis
  2. Established: 1994
  3. HQ: Santa Monica, California
  4. Mission: To bring radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity[X PRIZE Foundation: Our Mission
  5. Model: Orteig Prize, which offered $25,000 in 1919 for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris

• X Prizes

  Ansari X Prize:

  • Challenge: Construction of a private spaceship
  • Prize: $10M
  • Winner: Burt Rutan (October 2004)

  Archon X Prize:

  • Challenge: Successfully sequence 100 anonymous human genomes in 10 days at a recurring cost of no more than $10,000 per genome
  • Prize: $10M
  • Winner: No winner as of 2009

  Progressive Automotive X Prize:

  • Challenge: Designing and building a super-efficient, commercially viable vehicle that will achieve 100 MPG
  • Prize: $7.5M (mainstream); $2.5 (alternate class)
  • Winner: No winner as of 2009

  Google Lunar X Prize:

  • Challenge: Successfully launching, landing and operating a rover on the lunar surface
  • Prize: $20M
  • Winner: No winner as of 2009

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