Moon Express and Rocket Lab have two launches now planned, each aiming to land the MX-1 lander on the moon.
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According to a Thursday story in Space.com, Moon Express, one of the leading contestants in the Google Lunar X Prize competition, has made a giant leap toward its goal of being the first private group to land on the moon. “Landing on the moon the first time would be fantastic, but we want to have a few backup plans and to be able to try it again and then try it again“.
“The holy grail of our company is to provide, to prove, a full-services capability – not just landing, but coming back from the moon”, said Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards, who announced the new launch deal today (Oct. 1) at the Space Technology & Investment Summit in San Francisco.
The company has the option of launching from Rocket Lab’s private launch range in New Zealand (currently under construction near Christchurch, Green Party protests notwithstanding) or from an American range.
Sixteen teams from around the world are racing to build unmanned lunar landers and rovers to win the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, the largest incentive prize in history.
Chief executive and major shareholder Peter Beck always plays his cards close to his chest, and is not putting a value on the Moon Express deal.
Two launches of MX-1 have been manifested with Rocket Lab for 2017, with the third to be scheduled at a later date.
L.A.-based Rocket Lab is working on a launch pad in New Zealand as well as its next-generation Electron rocket, which is due for its first test launch within a year. “Our MX-1 spacecraft design is flexible and adaptable for staging”.
“We think the collapse of the price to get to the moon is going to enable a whole new market – kind of like the 4-minute-mile of space”. The company combines best practices of traditional aerospace “know-how” with the innovation and entrepreneurial culture of Silicon Valley. It was founded on the belief that small payloads require dedicated small launch vehicles and the flexibility not now offered by traditional rocket systems.
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Rocket Lab is building its two-stage, liquid-oxygen-and-kerosene Electron rocket from scratch. Rocket Lab is a privately funded company, with major investors including Khosla Ventures, K1W1, Bessemer Venture Partners and Lockheed Martin. Mr Beck says Rocket Labs has 30 launches booked.
