Posted: Tue, Jan 28, 2003, 8:21 PM ET (0121 GMT)
The X Prize, a suborbital space tourism competition, officially announced this week that four new teams have been accepted for the $10 million contest. The four new companies, all of which are small startups, include American Astronautics Corporation, Interorbital Systems, and Micro-Space, all of the US, as well as IL Aerospace Technologies of Israel. X Prize chairman Peter Diamandis said nearly two weeks ago at a Washington Space Business Roundtable luncheon that four teams would be added, but declined to identify them at the time. All four were added to the list of teams on the X Prize web site last week before the formal announcement this week. The X Prize offers a $10 million prize for the first privately-developed reusable vehicle capable of carrying three people to an altitude of 100 kilometers twice in a two-week period. No team has come close to claiming the prize since it was unveiled in 1996, although Diamandis said earlier this month that he believed one team would claim the prize within 18 months. The new entrants bring the number of official competitors to 24, representing seven countries.

Related Links:

•  X Prize press release
•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  Spaceflight Now pre-announcement article