Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024
Google Lunar X PRIZE Presentation - Google Africa HQ
1. Pierre-Damien Vaujour
Space Projects
X PRIZE Foundation
Google Office – Nairobi, Kenya
October 13th, 2009
2. www.googlelunarxprize.org
History of Prizes: The Orteig Prize
9 teams spent $400,000 – that is
more than 15 times the prize value
Within eight months of Lindbergh’s flight…
the number of airplanes in the U.S. quadrupled,
the number of pilots tripled
the number of individuals buying airline tickets
increased 30-fold, from 5,700 to nearly 180,000.
Aviation today is a multi-trillion dollar industry
and a vital component of the global economy
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3. www.googlelunarxprize.org
The Ansari X PRIZE
$10M prize for:
Privately funded
spacecraft
100 km
3 people (or weight
equivalent)
2 flights within 2 weeks
26 teams
7 countries
$100M + spent
3
4. www.googlelunarxprize.org
The Ansari X PRIZE
Technological advances
Regulatory reform
Legitimization
Hero Creation
Public Excitement
It ignited the personal
spaceflight revolution! 4
6. www.googlelunarxprize.org
The Creation of the X PRIZE Foundation
Creating radical breakthroughs
for the benefit of humanity 6
7. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Benefits of Incentives Prizes
3 to 1 demonstrated financial leverage
Legitimacy
Media exposure and public engagement
Attract capital and partners
Drive innovation
More likely to succeed
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8. www.googlelunarxprize.org
X PRIZE Foundation
Not-for-profit educational foundation
Offers incentive prizes to create radical
breakthroughs for the benefit of all
humanity
$10M Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital
Spaceflight
$10M prize claimed in 2004 by
SpaceShipOne
$10M Archon X PRIZE for Genomics
Rapid, affordable, complete human
genome sequencing
$10 M Progressive Automotive X PRIZE
Mass producible, desirable cars that get
>100 mpge
Future Prizes:
Life Sciences, Energy & Environment,
Exploration, Global Development
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9. www.googlelunarxprize.org
What is the Google Lunar X PRIZE?
$30,000,000 in cash prizes
$20M 1st place
$5M 2nd place
$5M in Performance Bonuses
Open to world-wide competition
Privately financed teams must:
Land a robot on surface of the Moon
Explore the Moon by moving at least
500m (1/3 of a mile)
Transmit two “Mooncasts,” packages of
high definition video and imagery
Bonuses encourage:
Roving further along the lunar surface
Visiting man-made hardware
Surviving a lunar night
Diverse teams
Finding water ice
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10. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Preferred Providers (Partners)
SpaceX: 10% Discount on all Falcon
Launchers
Universal Space Networks:
50% Discount on communication
services (passes) for the spacecraft
while in transit to the Moon and for 30
Earth Days of operations on the lunar
surface.
SETI: Free downlink services through
the Allen Telescope Array
Space Florida: $2M Bonus prize
if winning flight launched from Florida
AGI: Free seat license for STK
(>$150,000 value)
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11. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Estimated Team Costs (US$ millions)
Minimum Foreseeable Costs
Rover $5.0
Lander $10.0
Launcher $6 - $25
Launch Integration $2.0
3rd Stage Motor (TLI) $5.0
Insurance $2.5
Ground Network Use $0.5
TOTAL $30-50+
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12. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Google Lunar X PRIZE
Global Impact Teams Geographical Distribution
More than 2000 inquiries
from more than 90 countries
Teams
17 fully registered teams:
Additional 5 “Letter of Intent”
signatories
Headquartered in 5 nations:
China, Isle of Man, Italy,
Malaysia, Romania, USA
Work being performed in
more than 35 countries
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14. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Challenges for Teams
Technical
Power
Bandwidth
Landed Mass
Propulsion Technology
Landing System
Financial
Fundraising
Finding the market
“Some of our teams consider their understanding of the potential market their most
important competitive advantage” - William Pomerantz, XPF 14
15. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Government Missions
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Japan: SELENE
O China: Chang'e 1 LEGEND
R India: Chandrayaan 1 In Orbit
B USA: LRO / LCROSS In Development
I USA: LADEE/GRAIL Planned
T UK: MoonLITE Concept
A China: Chang'e 2
L Russia: Luna-Glob
Germany: LEO
India: Chandrayaan 2
L Japan: SELENE 2
A Europe: MoonNEXT
N China: Chang'e 3
D Japan: SELENE 3
E China : Sample Return
R NASA Crewed Missions
S China Crewed Missions
Russia
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16. www.googlelunarxprize.org
Education
Online
Interactive learning opportunities for
educators, students and parents
Science, technology, engineering and
math (STEM) education
Engaging outside the classroom
BotBall robotics competition
National Science Teachers Association
Universities using prize as teaching tool
Team Summit Student Competition
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19. www.googlelunarxprize.org
What are the X PRIZE Foundation activities?
Rules Finalization
Feedback from the teams,
Google and experts
Not over-constraining
No loop hole
Creating a compelling story
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20. www.googlelunarxprize.org
What are the X PRIZE Foundation activities?
Helping the teams to win!
Giving media exposure to the teams
Prize awareness
Team summits
Building partnership
Connecting with investors and partners
Legal Framework
20
21. www.googlelunarxprize.org
What are the X PRIZE Foundation activities?
Helping the teams to win!
Giving media exposure to the teams
Prize awareness
Team summits
Building partnership
Connecting with investors and partners
Legal Framework
21
22. www.googlelunarxprize.org
What are the X PRIZE Foundation activities?
Helping the teams to win!
Giving media exposure to the teams
Prize awareness
Team summits
Building partnership
Connecting with investors and partners
Legal Framework and Political Support
22
23. www.googlelunarxprize.org
What are the X PRIZE Foundation activities?
Helping the teams to win!
Giving media exposure to the teams
Prize awareness
Team summits
Building partnership
Connections with investors and partners
Legal Framework and Political Support
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24. www.googlelunarxprize.org
OCTOBER 2004 OCTOBER 2008
SpaceShipOne wins the Armadillo Aerospace wins
$10,000,000 Ansari X PRIZE the $350,000 Level 1 of the
Lunar Lander Challenge
The Revolution has started...
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25. "Never doubt that a small group
www.googlelunarxprize.org
of thoughtful, committed people
can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has"