Over at Unreasonable Rocket, Paul Breed points out a potential conflict-of-interest regarding the 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge:
“The basic problem is this: The LLC is supposed to be an impartial contest, yet you have the head of the Xprize, Peter [Diamandis] on video telling John Carmack that they will expedite the 2009 contest so Armadillo does not have to wait a full year to win the prize. That was an astonishingly ill conceived video. Peter has a personal business relationship with Armadillo, so even if there are a million legitimate reasons to accelerate the contest and change its format, that one video could be used by anyone with an axe to grind to trash both the concept of government prizes and the xprize organization in particular.”
Continue reading ‘Will Diamandis Expedite 2009 Lunar Lander Challenge to Help Business Partner Armadillo?’
The State of Florida is considering creating a $40 million prize to be awarded to the private company or individual who provides “the most significant advancements within the reusable space vehicle industry” between January 1, 2009 and January 1, 2014.
The prize, which would be funded equally by Florida’s government and private contributions, is based on the Ansari X Prize. The state’s lieutenant governor would serve as the effort’s chairman and appoint a committee to establish the prize’s criteria.
The incentive is part of new legislation now being considered by the Florida House and Senate. The identical bills would allow the State Board of Administration to invest up to 1 percent of net assets from the Florida Retirement System Trust Fund in “economically targeted investments” likely to create high-end, high-tech jobs. These areas include aerospace, aviation, computer technology, renewable energy, and medical and life sciences.
You can read the complete bills here.
