X-Prize organizers renewed their commitment to the competition that will offer $10 million for the first private sector team to fly 100 kilometers or 62 miles to space, return to Earth and repeat the flight within two weeks.

X Prize organizers cited an interest in honoring the memory of the seven astronauts who lost their lives aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia crew by forging ahead with the contest to reward a privately designed, built and launched new generation of spaceship. The efforts of 24 competing teams will continue and the $10 million prize will go to the winner, said Peter H. Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation.