Human spaceflight was long reserved for government programs. Private space travel was considered too dangerous, expensive, and unfeasible—an obstacle that kept space tourism and private exploration out of reach.

Breakthrough solutions proved private teams could send humans to space and back, safely and affordably, twice in two weeks. The achievement opened the door to a commercial space industry once thought impossible.

The $10M Ansari XPRIZE was launched to shatter the belief that spaceflight belonged solely to governments. The challenge: build a reliable, reusable, crewed spacecraft capable of carrying three people, 62 miles (100 km) above Earth—twice within two weeks—using only private funding.

On October 4, 2004, Mojave Aerospace Ventures claimed victory with SpaceShipOne, the first privately crewed vehicle to reach space. This achievement not only proved that private-sector innovation could match the ambitions of national space agencies, it ignited the $469B commercial space industry.

Shortly after their win, Virgin Galactic licensed SpaceShipOne’s technology to build a suborbital space tourism system. By 2023, Virgin Galactic had completed its first commercial service mission, carrying passengers to 52 miles (85.1 km) above Earth. The company has since raised over $1.1B and continues to make spaceflight a reality for civilians.

The Ansari XPRIZE became a blueprint for private space innovation, inspiring ventures like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and others to push further into orbit, deep space, and beyond.

Launched in 1996, the competition concluded on October 4, 2004, when SpaceShipOne completed its second qualifying flight within two weeks to claim the $10M prize.