Other groups have decided to make a run at space without participating in the X Prize.

"We intend to collect the X Prize on the way to becoming the industry," he said.

The team is also examining whether or not an "X Prize" can be used to foster new ways of thinking about health and health care.

The team summit for the X Prize was held on the Island in October 2010.

The X Prize is seen as a major boost for the cause of space tourism, and of private spaceflight in general.

The X Prize was conceived to encourage a new role for the private sector in human space travel, beginning with space tourism.

And despite the success of the X Prize, inducement prizes in many fields aren't likely to spur useful innovation.

As of 2011, the Science Center maintains numerous exhibits about the X Prize.

Many of these groups are participating in the X Prize, a contest designed to kick-start passenger travel in space.

X Prize calls for launching people just over 60 miles high into suborbital space, the middle frontier surpassed early in the American space program.