X PRIZESM COMPETITION GUIDELINES



GOAL STATMENT

The purpose of the X PRIZE is to promote the development and flight-test of vehicles able to provide low-cost commercial transport of humans into space. These preliminary guidelines have been written with this intent and will be further drafted, interpreted and defined by the X PRIZE Rules Committee towards this end. Once the rules are finalized, all judging will be conducted by an independent Review Board. All decisions of the X PRIZE Review Board are final and binding upon all participants.

ANTICIPATED RULES

1. As a condition of entering and becoming a participant in the X PRIZE Competition, entrants will be required to first agree to be bound and abide by the rules, decisions and interpretations which will be further promulgated by the X PRIZE Rules Committee and its designated representatives. Entrants will also be required to agree to fully cooperate with the X PRIZE Review Board in monitoring X PRIZE entrants and competition requirements.

2. Flight vehicles will have to be privately financed and built. Entrants will be precluded from using a launch vehicle substantially developed under a government contract or grant. Entrants will be prohibited from receiving any direct funding, subsidies, grants of money, goods, or services from any government (or otherwise tax-supported entity). Entrants will be permitted to utilize government facilities if access to such facilities is generally available to all entrants. Any such goods or services used in connection with the competition must be available to other entrants on similar terms. Entrants will be permitted to utilize subsystems previously developed by a government agency that are currently available on a commercial or equal-access government-surplus basis, or for which manufacturing rights and specifications are available on an equal-access basis.

3. The flight vehicle must be flown twice within a 14-day period. Each flight must carry at least one person, to minimum altitude of 100 km. The flight vehicle must be built with the capacity (weight and volume) to carry a minimum of 3 adults of height 188 cm and weight 90 kg each. Three people of this size or larger must be able to enter, occupy, and be fastened into the flight vehicle on Earth's surface prior to take-off, and equivalent ballast must be carried in-flight if the number of persons on-board during flight is less than three persons.

4. The second flight must demonstrate economical vehicle reusability. It is the X PRIZE Rules Committee's intent that the winning flight vehicle should exhibit sufficiently low per-flight costs such that the flight vehicle will support low-cost space access. Toward this end, no more than 10% of the flight vehicle's first-flight non-propellant mass may be replaced between the two flights.

5. The crew must return to the Earth's surface from both flights in good health as reasonably defined and judged by the X PRIZE Review Board.. The flight vehicle must return from both flights substantially intact, as defined by and in the sole judgment of the X PRIZE Review Board, such that the vehicle is reusable.

6. Entrants must specify and provide the X PRIZE Rules Committee with their take-off and landing location, and the date of their launch, not less than 30 days prior to any flight attempt.

7. The X PRIZE Competition is international in nature and is open to all qualifying entrants who agree to be bound and abide by the rules which shall be further promulgated by the X PRIZE Rules Committee and administered by the X PRIZE Review Board.

8. In addition to signing any releases, rules, and agreements that the X PRIZE Rules Committee may require, all entrants for the X PRIZE will also be required to timely submit a letter of intent to the Review Board which fully details their respective compliance with the rules and regulations, the general nature and configuration of their vehicle, and their intended flight plans. All releases, agreements, and letters of intent will have to be received, accepted and acknowledged by the X PRIZE Rules Committee during a time frame to be specified but, in no event, later than three months prior to the respective entrant's first flight attempt. The X PRIZE Review Board will be the final arbiter on whether an entrant complies with the rules and regulations. It is the intent of the X PRIZE Rules Committee that all communications and technical information disclosed to the Review Board which reflects confidential information, except as otherwise agreed, will be held in confidence. The X PRIZE Review Board members, or a duly designated Review Board representative, must monitor, all flight attempts, and any period of time in-between scheduled flights.

9. X PRIZE entrants will be required to comply with, or obtain waivers, for any and all international, national, regional, or local laws or regulations, of any kind, which pertain to or govern any activities conducted by the entrants in connection with the competition including, but not limited to, the manufacture, construction, testing or launch of their respective flight vehicles.

10. Entrants will be required to carry an X PRIZE-provided flight recorder to monitor the flight profile and altitude achieved.

11. All X PRIZE entrants shall be required to prominently display the service marked/trademarked X PRIZE and the NEW SPIRIT OF ST. LOUISSM logos (of size and color to be prescribed) on their flight vehicles.

12. The general guidelines set forth herein, although intended to provide a preliminary summary of the anticipated rules of the X PRIZE Competition, are expressly subject to change. Furthermore, in order for a person to qualify as an entrant, among other criteria yet to be set, any such entrant must first sign any releases, rules, and agreements that the X PRIZE Rules Committee may require. Current and updated copies of any such releases, rules, and agreements may be obtained directly from The X PRIZE Foundation, Inc., or its World Wide Web site: (http://www.xprize.org/aboutus/guidlelines.html).



X PRIZE SM and NEW SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS SM are service marks of The X PRIZE Foundation, Inc.