The X Prize (Draft) Rules

The rules set for a prize are very important. First, the rules should not overrestric the creativity of the participants. Second, the rules should be written so that they help ahieve the purpose for which the prize was created, in this case low-cost suborbital space tourism.

Thus far, the following draft rules have been established for participants in the X Prize Competition

1. The spaceship must be privately financed and privately built.
   Details: The entrant is allowed to utilize any subsystem previously developed by a government agency which is currently available on a commercial basis. An entrant is precluded from using a launch vehicle substantially developed under a government contract. The entrant may receive no direct funding, subsidies, or grants of money, goods or services from any government (or tax-supported entity). An entrant may utilize government facilities if such facilities are available on a commercial basis. All goods or services used must be available to the commervial market at a price not likely to rise in constant-dollar terms for a three-year period following the submission.
2. The spaceship must be flown twice within a 14-day period. Each flight must carry two humans to a 100 kilometer minimum altitude. The spaceship must be built with the capacity (weight and volume) to carry a minimum of three adults.
3. The second flight must demonstrate a low per-flight cost and vehicle reusability.*
   Details: It is the committee's intent that the winning vehicle should be sufficiently reuasable in order that it have a reasonable per-flight cost that will make it attractive to the space tourism marketplace. (*This rule will be further defined in subsequent drafts.)
4. Both the crew and spaceship must return to Earth, substantially unharmed, from both trips.
5. Entrants must specify their take-off and landing location prior to the flight. The spacecraft must make a controlled landing within five kilometers of the chosen landing site.
6. The X Prize is international and open to anyone who abides by the rules.
7. All entrants for the X Prize must submit a letter of intent which details their compliance with the regulations and their intended flight plan. The letter must be received, accepted and acknowledged by the Committee no later than three months prior to their first flight attempt. The X Prize Committee will be the final arbiter on whether an entrant complies with the rules. All communications and technical information will be held strictly confidential. The X Prize Committee members must monitor both flight attempts.

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