On my September trip to India [1] to talk about the Google Lunar X PRIZE [2], I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect in terms of international response. The PRIZE is, of course, open to competitors from any country—and a quick look at the satellites currently in orbit around the Moon shows that there is plenty of reason to expect international teams to have what it takes to launch and develop lunar spacecraft. But previous experience traveling, studying, and working abroad has shown me that people often mistakenly believe that X PRIZEs are for US teams only. (Note: in the NASA-funded [3] Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge [4], only US-led teams can collect prize money. Every other X PRIZE was and is open to international competition.) On top of that commonly held misconception about eligibility for X PRIZEs, I’ve often noted that US companies, universities, and individuals seem to be more responsive to prize offerings; indeed, perhaps to entrepreneurial space as a whole.

As a case in point, of the 350 or so potential teams who have contacted us for the guidelines and registration forms for the Google Lunar X PRIZE (which you can now do via this handy form [5]), there are at least 40 countries represented. About 34% percent of those people identified themselves as being from the USA. Some of the potential teams did not voluntarily identify their country, but of those that did (just under two thirds), more than half were from the USA.

All in all, I found our international travels to be quite encouraging. It is clear to me that people from almost every country are interested in the prize—-they are inspired by the challenge, excited by the prize money, and hooked by the Google name. But despite the interest we’ve seen on trips to India and Moscow, and despite a good about of international press about the prize, the numbers still are what they are.

I have some of my own theories, but wanted to turn outside the USA for some thoughts. Thankfully, I knew just where to go: Mr. Nicolas Peter, [6] a Research Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute [7] (ESPI), the only think tank in Europe devoted solely to space activities. I first met Nicolas at the International Space University [8], where I was a student and he, a teaching fellow. Later, Nicolas worked for the X PRIZE Foundation for a summer while finishing up a Master’s degree at the George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute [9], Nicolas worked with me at X PRIZE, helping produce one of the initial studies on what has since become the Google Lunar X PRIZE. Since returning to Europe, he’s been a real advocate for a new and improved entrepreneurial space community in Europe, and remains one of my chief go-to guys on questions of policy or the European aerospace sector.

I asked Nicolas for his thoughts about European competitors for the Google Lunar X PRIZE.

Nicolas first pointed to an important historical fact: prizes have a long and proud history in Europe. The Longitude prize [10], the Soda Alkali prize, the [11]Kremer prizes [12], and even the Orteig prize [13] were offered by Europeans, held in Europe, or had strong teams coming from Europe. The original Ansari X PRIZE had teams from the UK, Romania, and Russia (by the way, if you haven’t already, check out this great video from Team ARCA [14], our Romanian team). “The history of successful inducement prize competitions in Europe has shown the potential to accelerate the developments of many breakthrough and different technologies in a variety of socially beneficial areas,” Nicolas told me. “Prize competitions are an old idea whose time has come again for Europe! The new Google Lunar X PRIZE might be the catalyst that can eventually ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe by getting a younger generation interested about space exploration--and also nostalgic for the original space race. I am confident that there will be more European teams in this prize then in the original Ansari X PRIZE not only because of the size of the purse but because it is a forward-looking grand challenge, and because Europeans are eager to have a chance to demonstrate their capabilities after being somewhat absent from the original Ansari X PRIZE. So let the race begin!”

I’m thrilled to hear that enthusiasm, of course. But I want to delve further into the issue. Is there something uniquely American about wanting to compete in prizes? In regions like Europe that have both ready access to capital and extensive experience and talent relevant to space exploration, why haven’t we seen even more interest? I hope to delve further into this issue, with the help of Nicolas and others. I’d love to hear comments. Do teams from your part of the world have a unique perspective on competing in the prize?

Finally, just for the curious, here’s a list of the countries from which we’ve received requests for registration forms for the Google Lunar X PRIZE. I’m happy to report we gotten messages from every continent except Antarctica (c’mon, penguins!). I hope we can add more to this list in the future: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, and the USA. If you don’t see your country on there, maybe you should request the forms and start your own team! And if you do see your country on there, and are curious about just who exactly these potential teams are—stay tuned!