Details: https://www.warframe.com/spaceninja

Per the contest rules, the $250,000 is based on the estimated costs (at the time of the contest) to travel to space and won’t be adjusted in the event that this estimate changes (i.e. ends up being higher).  The winner must also arrange the space trip with a provider if they choose to use the prize money for that trip.

While this is a pretty interesting contest, the $250K won’t be enough to cover the costs of the pre-flight training (most private space flights will require travelers to go through some basic/remedial weightlessness training) and will likely only cover a basic sub-orbital flight (not a full orbital flight and no way for an actual longer term stay for some of the initial space tourism companies).  For example, the $250K is what Virgin Galactic will charge for a 62-mile high journey; the Karman line which is the boundary between the upper atmosphere and outer space.

Since NASA is opening the International Space Station to space tourism in 2020, the costs to fly there (on one of the eventual private space launch companies) will be around $55 million (10 day expedition via Axiom Space) with stays costing an extra $35K per night.

I myself have already saved $300K for the sub-orbital flight variety (I was previously hoping that the Dream Chaser would become a viable space tourism option but it’s looking more like capsules will be the most common besides the sub-orbital composite space planes that Virgin Galactic will be using).