Moon Express Set For 2017 Mission In Pursuit Of The Google Lunar XPRIZE

Moon Express has received official verification today of their launch contract from XPRIZE as part of the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, a global competition for privately funded teams to land an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of the moon by December 31, 2017. Moon Express will use a Rocket Lab Electron rocket combined with the company’s  “MX-1E” micro-lander as part of a 2017 mission.

“We are extremely proud to officially confirm receipt and verification of Moon Express’s launch contract,” said Chanda Gonzales, senior director of the Google Lunar XPRIZE. “At XPRIZE, we believe that the spirit of competition brings about breakthroughs that once seemed unimaginable or impossible, and so it thrills us to now have two Google Lunar XPRIZE teams with verified launch contracts attempting missions to the moon in 2017.  The new space race is truly on!”
 
"We applaud Google and XPRIZE for setting up such a visionary competition, and we’ve got our eyes on the prize,” said Moon Express co-founder and CEO Bob Richards. "Our long-term goal is to unlock lunar resources for the benefit of humanity, and we are thrilled to have our contract in place with Rocket Lab allowing us to provide low-cost missions to the moon for science and commerce."
 
Moon Express is contracted with Rocket Lab USA, a Los Angeles based company founded in 2007, for three lunar missions using the MX-1E lunar lander on Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, from either New Zealand or the United States.

"Moon Express is building disruptive technologies that will forever change the cost of access to space, including the asteroids and even the moons of Mars," said Moon Express Co-Founder and Chairman Naveen Jain. "We are now taking advantage of exponential technology like 3D printing and inexpensive sensors to collapse the capital needed to access the moon. Coupling these technological advancements with today's news about our Rocket Lab launch contract is a huge step forward for us in opening whole new markets for space exploration."
 
Moon Express is one of two Google Lunar XPRIZE teams with verified launch contracts for 2017. The remaining 14 teams have until December 31, 2016 for their launch arrangements to be verified by XPRIZE in order to proceed in the competition.

(Source: Google Lunar XPRIZE news release. Image from file provided by Moon Express)

FMI: http://lunar.xprize.org