In a ceremony this Thursday on Capitol Hill, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will award $1.65 million in prizes to two commercial spaceflight companies, Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace, for completing successful flights in the NASA-funded Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge managed by the X PRIZE Foundation.

Time: Doors open 11:45 am and ceremony begins at noon, Thursday November 5th.

Place: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2325. Open to the public.

Speakers include: NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden; NASA Innovative Partnerships Director, Doug Comstock; OSTP Deputy Director for Policy, Tom Kalil; X PRIZE Foundation CEO, Peter Diamandis; Rep. Ralph Hall, ranking member of the House Science Committee; Rep. Adam Schiff, House CJS Appropriations Subcommittee; and the winning teams.

The NASA-funded Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge (NGLLC) is a $2,000,000 incentive prize program designed to build an industry of American companies capable of routinely and safely flying vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket vehicles useful both for lunar exploration and for other applications. $350,000 was awarded last year to Armadillo Aerospace, and this year $1,650,000 will be awarded to Masten Space Systems and Armadillo Aerospace for successfully completed flights.