Five Teams Are Set For Unmanned Trips To The Moon

The race is on: the five finalist teams in the Google Lunar XPRIZE have been set, and they all have rocket launch contracts to go to the Moon in 2017.

A total of $30 million in prizes is on the line, including the $20 million grand prize for whoever gets there first (and completes the competition goals), and these teams are employing a variety of technology to land first and claim the fame.

They hail from Japan, India, the United States, and Israel, with launches set to happen from places as far-flung as California, USA; Sriharikota, India; and Mahia, New Zealand. Here’s a look at all five teams, and their technology that’s set to make big space history.

SpaceIL: Tel Aviv, Israel
The first Google Lunar XPRIZE team to secure their launch contract, SpaceIL signed a deal with SpaceX (through Spaceflight Services) to launch in late 2017. Using a “hopper” style of craft, where they will land on the lunar surface, fly 500m, and then touch down again to claim the prize, SpaceIL looks to inspire education across Israel (and the world) and get more people into science & technology.

Moon Express: Cape Canaveral, Florida
Famous for being the first private organization to get approval from their government to operate on the Moon (a necessary step for international space law), United States space start-up Moon Express are ready to bring the Moon back in a big way to Florida’s Space Coast. Using their hopping Moon lander (see the test version above), Moon Express looks to open up a bright future for the “eighth continent” and bring a real business plan to space. They’ve signed up with New Zealand’s up-and-coming Rocket Lab to launch from Mahia, New Zealand in late 2017.

Synergy Moon: International
Why buy a ride when you can build one? Synergy Moon team member Interorbital Systems will serve as their launch provider, using a NEPTUNE 8 rocket to carry the team to the moon from an open-ocean location off the California coast during the second half of 2017. Synergy Moon loves big dreams, and the arts, and they’re ready to take their Moonshot.

Team Indus: India
Is that WALL-E? No, but it’s Team Indus’ Moon rover, ECA! This little robot is carrying a big mission, as the Bangalore, India startup will send it on a lander (along with science and instruments, like cameras from French national space agency CNES) to race that 500m for the big prize. It won’t be alone, as fellow team Hakuto will be riding along on the lander (see below), launching on the tried-and-true PSLV rocket of India’s ISRO space agency (and their private wing) on December 28th, 2017, arriving just in time for Republic Day 2018.

Hakuto: Japan
Japan’s popular space team Hakuto has scored some big partnerships, including au by KDDI, Suzuki, rock band Sakanaction, and a longterm Moon-resources-exploration plan with the Japanese space agency JAXA; and now they’re lined up to launch on Team Indus’ Moon lander! The Indian and Japanese teams will work together to win the Moon race, launching for the Moon on December 28th from Sriharikota, India.

(Images provided with Google Lunar XPRIZE news release and from file)

FMI: http://lunar.xprize.org/