The N-Prize offers two cash Prizes, each of £9,999.99 (nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine pounds and ninety-nine pence, sterling)
to the first persons or groups to put into orbit around the Earth a satellite with a mass of between 9.99 and 19.99 grams, and to prove that it has completed at least 9 orbits
One prize will go to an expendable vehicle and the other to a reusable one:
The cost of the launch, but not ground facilities, must fall within a budget of £999.99. Entrants for the RV Prize may exceed this budget, but must demonstrate recovery of hardware such that the per-launch cost remains within £999.99.
The contest started out as something of a lark but there turned out to be a lot of enthusiasm for it simply as a milestone for the many people interested in really, really low cost nano/pico sat launch:
The N-Prize is a challenge to launch an impossibly small satellite into orbit on a ludicrously small budget, for a pitifully small cash prize.
Eventually, over 50 teams got involved. I can’t tell from the N-Prize website, though, how many teams remain active. In a scan of the team entries, Wikisat was the only one with a website showing signs of recent activity.
One deadline (Sept. 19, 2011) was extended and now tht extension is coming to an end:
The prizes will be available for entrants whose satellites complete their 9th orbit before 19:19:09 (GMT) on the 19th September 2013.
There’s a chance, though, that the contest will be made open ended: Some important news… – NPrize Forum.