The X Prize Cup that has drawn thousands of spectators to Las Cruces and Alamogordo in recent years is being significantly scaled back, and there will be no public access to the one competitive event scheduled for next week, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

The X Prize Cup, which seeks to foster innovation in space technology through competition, was held in Las Cruces in 2005 and 2006 before being moved to Alamogordo in 2007, the Sun-News said.

This year it was to be held at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo to coincide with the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, the paper reported.

"The Cup as it has traditionally been held is not (going to happen this year) because of funding levels it takes to run a massive public event," Steve Landeene, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, told the Sun-News.

"And the fact that the air show at Holloman is not on this year ... that was part of the decision-making process that went into saying, 'Hey, we don't have the funds to have a massive public event.' So what we're doing this year is kind of a hybrid," Landeene said.

The $2 million Lunar Lander Challenge, one of the Cup's signature events, will be held next Thursday and Friday at Las Cruces International Airport, but on-site access will be limited only to registered symposium attendees, the Sun-News said.

The competition, however, will be broadcast on the Internet and to the audience at the New Mexico Space Museum in Alamogordo, where education days for area school children will be held Wednesday through Friday, and a public day will be held Friday, Landeene told the Sun-News.

Funding wasn't the only reason for the change in plans, Becky Ramsey, X Prize Foundation communications director, told the Sun-News.

"The main reason was because where we were in dealing with meeting Holloman requirements for being out on the base this year," Ramsey said.

Holloman officials informed X Prize organizers about six weeks ago that classified activities had been scheduled on base that could present a conflict, but that wasn't enough time for organizers to come up with an alternate plan or moving back to Las Cruces, the Sun-News reported.