Peter Diamandis

Peter Diamantis was born in the Bronx, New York. His parents are both Greek immigrants working in the medical industry. Since a very young age, Demandis has shown a strong interest in space exploration. At the age of 8, he began to teach his family and friends about space. At the age of 12, Dementis won first place in the Estes rocket design competition because he designed a launch system that could simultaneously launch three rockets. Di Mantis graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 with a Bachelor's degree in Molecular Genetics. Subsequently, he entered Harvard Medical School to pursue a PhD in medicine. In 1986, Dementis gave up his medical degree and returned to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue a master's degree in aerospace. He conducted research at NASA Johnson Space Center, MIT Man Vehicle Laboratory, and MIT Whitehead Biomedical Research Institute. In 1987, Dementis co founded the International Space University with Todd Holly, Walter Anderson, and Robert Richards. Until 1989, he served as the managing director and chief operating officer of the university. Today, the International Space University, headquartered in Strasbourg, France, has grown into a university worth more than 30 million dollars. Di Mantis co founded Microsat Launch Systems in 1989, later renamed International Microspace Company, and served as the CEO of the company. In 1991, Di Mantis founded Constellation Communications, which received funding to deploy an equatorial ring consisting of 10 satellites, mainly providing communication to Brazil and Indonesia. Di Mantis served as a director of the company until 1993. In 1994, Di Mantis was inspired by reading Charles Lindbergh's St. Louis spirit and founded the X Prize Foundation. He is the chairman and CEO of the foundation. In May 1996, Dementis launched a space exploration award with a prize of up to $10 million - a reward for non-governmental organizations that could build a manned rocket and send it back and forth to space twice within two weeks, aimed at inspiring innovation in new private manned space technology. The award was announced on May 18, 1996 in St. Louis, Missouri. In the early stages of award setting, Di Mantis did not have funds, but he did what entrepreneurs often do to create a pie, giving people promises and dreams. He spent several years raising funds and ultimately obtained investment from an Iranian woman named Anusheh Ansari. This $10 million competition attracted 26 teams from 7 countries. On October 4, 2004, the $25 million private spacecraft SpaceShip-1, designed and manufactured by Lutan and invested by Microsoft partner Paul Allen, won the $10 million Ansari X Award. It is worth mentioning that SpaceX founder Musk met with Demandis in 2001 and was inspired to create another milestone in space exploration in the future. And Amazon CEO Bezos also started exploring his own space exploration business after meeting with Demanti. The X Prize Foundation has approximately 50