America's Space Prize was a US$50 million space competition

Space competition

Space prize redirects here. For the literature prize, see Howard E. Day PrizeA space competition is an offer of a prize to be given to the first competitor who demonstrates a space vehicle, or a space exploration apparatus, which meets a set of pre-established criteria...

 in orbital spaceflight

Orbital spaceflight

An orbital spaceflight 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 altitude at perigee above...

 established and funded in 2004 by hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow

Robert Bigelow

Robert T. Bigelow is a hotel and aerospace entrepreneur. He owns the hotel chain Budget Suites of America and is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace....

. The prize would have been awarded to the first US-based privately-funded team to design and build a reusable manned capsule capable of flying 5 astronauts to a Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow Aerospace

Bigelow Aerospace is a North Las Vegas, Nevada space technology startup company that is pioneering work on expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998...

 inflatable space module. The prize expired January 10, 2010, without a winner or any test flights attempted. There must be two flights within 60 days. The teams were required to have been based in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

Prize rules

A set of ten criteria were set up in order for a contestant to win the prize.

1. The spacecraft must reach a minimum altitude of 400 kilometers (approximately 250 miles);
2. The spacecraft must reach a minimum velocity sufficient to complete two (2) full orbits at altitude before returning to Earth;
3. The spacecraft must carry no less than a crew of five (5) people;
4. 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;
5. The spacecraft must perform two (2) consecutive, safe and successful orbital missions within a period of sixty (60) calendar days, subject to Government regulations;
6. No more than twenty percent (20%) of the spacecraft may be composed of expendable hardware;
7. The contestant must be domiciled in the United States of America.
8. The contestant must have its principal place of business in the United States of America;
9. 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
10. 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 didn't 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:

• Interorbital Systems
  Interorbital Systems
  Interorbital Systems Corporation is an American aerospace company based in Mojave, California. It was founded in 1996 by Roderick and Randa Milliron, who also co-founded Trans Lunar Research....
  
  
• JP Aerospace
  JP Aerospace
  JP Aerospace is a volunteer-based organization dedicated to achieving affordable access to space. They have been hired by the U.S. Air Force to provide concepts to allow rapid launch of battlefield communication and monitoring systems....
  
  
• SpaceDev
  SpaceDev
  SpaceDev, a part of the "Space Systems Business" of Sierra Nevada Corporation, is prominent for its spaceflight and microsatellite work. It designed and built the hybrid rocket motors for Paul Allen's Tier One suborbital SpaceShipOne space program operated by Scaled Composites...
  
  
• SpaceX
  SpaceX
  Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...
  
  

External links

• America's Space Prize in Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Exclusive: Rules Set for $50 Million 'America’s Space Prize' SPACE.COM (November 8, 2004)