Appendix A
Comparison of Recent Prize Competitions
TABLE A-1 Comparison of Recent Prize Competitions
|
|
NASA Centennial Challenges |
DARPA Grand Challenge 2004, 2005, 2007 |
NAE Grainger Challenge |
Ansari X-Prize |
|
Target |
Technology for space exploration |
Autonomous vehicles |
Arsenic removal from water supply in LDCs |
Private space travel |
|
Type |
Variety of annual and one-time challenges (generally best in class) |
Annual or biannual races |
One-time prize (best in class) |
One-time prize (best in class) |
|
Prize purse |
$200,000-$2.5 million (prize amounts to increase over time) |
$1 million per race |
1st $1 million 2nd $200, 000 3rd $100, 000 |
$10 million |
|
Federal employee eligibility |
No |
Yes (using free time) |
Yes (using free time) |
N/A |
|
|
NASA Centennial Challenges |
DARPA Grand Challenge 2004, 2005, 2007 |
NAE Grainger Challenge |
Ansari X-Prize |
|
Foreign nationality eligibility |
No |
Yes (except team leaders must be U.S. citizens) |
No (U.S. citizen at U.S. institution or resident in the U.S. at the time of award) |
Yes |
|
Participants required to register |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Screening of participants |
Yes (for safety where applicable) |
Yes |
Yes (15 entries cleared for physical testing) |
Yes (primarily for safety and seriousness) |
|
IP rights |
Contestant has title (NASA retains option for nonexclusive license) |
Contestant has title (DARPA retains nonexclusive license) |
Contestant has title (NAE obtains license in order to test) |
Contestant has title |
|
Media rights |
Requires that contestants relinquish some media rights |
Not in the rules |
Not in the rules |
Contestants relinquish some media rights |
|
Intermediate awards |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Funding source |
NASA appropriations ($500,000 from private sources for $2.5 million Lunar Lander challenge) |
DARPA appropriations |
Nonprofit foundation |
Insurance policy purchased with private funding |
|
Administration |
NGOs without compensation under Space Act agreements |
DARPA |
NAE |
X-Prize Foundation |
|
Future prizes |
Planetary Unmanned Vehicle Challenge |
2007 Urban Challenge; prize authority extended to other parts of DOD |
Unknown |
X-Prize Cup; Auto X; Genomics X |
