Peter Diamandis

.

Dr. Peter H. Diamandis (born May 20, 1961, in The Bronx, New York City, New York), of Greek immigrant parents, is considered a key figure in the development of the personal spaceflight industry, having created many space-related businesses or organizations. He is the Founder and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, an educational non-profit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.[1]

Peter Diamandis

His foundation is best known for offering the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for private-sector manned spaceflight, a prize that was won in October 2004 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and famed aviation designer Burt Rutan with SpaceShipOne, the world's first non-government piloted spacecraft. More recently, Diamandis has created the Rocket Racing League. Born as a cross between Indy car racing and rocket-powered flight, RRL is developing a brand-new motor sport.

In addition to serving as chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, Diamandis is also the CEO and co-founder of Zero Gravity Corporation, which offers parabolic weightless flights to the general public. He is also the co-Founder and a Director of Space Adventures, Ltd, the company that has flown eight private citizens on Soyuz to the International Space Station.

Notable achievements

Diamandis also:

Co-founded and is chairman of the Singularity University.
Served as CEO of BlastOff! Corporation, which designed a private mission to land on the Moon as a mix of entertainment, internet and space. The company brought together talent from NASA/JPL and Hollywood.
Served as CEO of Desktop.tv, a spin-off company from BlastOff! Designed to provide a global peer-to-peer television network for broadcasting unique content to the desktop.
Served as Chairman of Starport.com[1], an Internet channel for space exploration for kids of all ages. The site represents over twenty astronauts and features space heroes, missions and simulations. Sold to Space.com[2].
Served as President & EVP Business Development of Angel Technologies Corporation - Broadband.com. Angel Technologies Corporation is a commercial communications company developing wireless broadband communications networks (www.broadband.com).
Co-founded Space Adventures Ltd. in 1994 [3], a leading space- tourism company. Space Adventures arranged Dennis Tito’s flight to the International Space Station in 2001 (the first space tourist).
Served as Vice President of Commercial Space Programs for CTA Inc., a $190M-revenue space technology company responsible for developing new CTA commercial space initiatives in small satellite remote sensing and communications.
Founded and served as Director of Constellation Communications, Inc. (CCI) in 1991. CCI was one of five low Earth orbit applicants designing a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation for voice telephony. Constellation plans to deploy an equatorial ring of 10 satellites to provide communications primarily to Brazil and Indonesia.
Founded and served as CEO of International MicroSpace, Inc. (IMI) in 1989. IMI was an entrepreneurial space technologies company focusing on the provision of low-cost launch services (ORBEX launch vehicle program). IMI was awarded a launch services contract for 1 launch plus 9 options from Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO) worth up to $125M. IMI was purchased by CTA Incorporated in 1993 and closed down in 1994 after SDIO canceled the contract.
Founded and served as Managing Director & CEO of International Space University (ISU) in 1987. ISU is the world's leading graduate program for multi-national and multi-disciplinary study of space involving over 30 nations and 140 graduates per year. ISU has established a $30M graduate-level campus in Strasbourg, France. During the period 1992–1994, Diamandis served as Co-Chair of the ISU Business & Management Department. [4]
Co-founded and served as director of the Space Generation Foundation, a non-profit organization established in 1985 to create, in all people born since the advent of the Space Age on 4 October 1957, a sense of identity — an awareness that they are born as members of a space-faring race. The Foundation supports numerous educational and research projects.
Founded SpaceFair in 1983. SpaceFair is a national space conference hosted by MIT in '83, '85, and '87.
Founded Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) in 1980. SEDS currently is the world's largest college- and high school-based student pro-space organization. [5]

Education

Diamandis received undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering and health, sciences and technology from MIT where he became a brother of the Theta Deuteron charge of Theta Delta Chi. He got an M.D. from Harvard Medical School.

Awards

1983 MIT John Asinari Award for outstanding Undergrad Life Sciences research.
1984 MIT William L. Stewart, Jr Award for the Founding of SEDS.
1985–1986 Harvard Med. School Student Research Grant American Heart Assoc.
1986–1987 Biomedical Research Support Grant supported by the NIH.
1986 Space Industrialization Fellowship presented by the Space Foundation.
1988 Aviation Week & Space Tech. Laurel in recognition of Founding ISU..
1992 Space Frontiers Foundation "Pioneers Award" Presented for cumulative work done in the commercialization and development of the space field.
1994 "Top-25 Young Stars of Space" award presented by the National Space Society for outstanding work done by space pioneers under the age of 40.
"Konstantine E. Tsiolkovsky Award" presented by the Russian Government for the creation of ISU (along with T. Hawley and R. Richards).
2002 World Technology Award, presented by the World Technology Counsel
2005 Doctorate of Space Achievement (Honoris Causa) by ISU
2006 Robert & Virginia Heinlein Prize, for Advances in Space Commercialization[2]

Footnotes

^ Stanford eCorner Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Speaker Series on X Prize history and incentives (April 23, 2008)
^ Carreau, Mark (25 May 2006). "Leader in space tourism wins prize". Houston Chronicle.

References

Diamandis biography on Zero-Gravity website[dead link]
X PRIZE Foundation website
Testimony by Peter Diamandis to U.S. House
Wired magazine: Who needs NASA?
BBC News: X-Prize man launches rocket race
Philanthropy: "Extraordinary Feats of an X-Man"

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