As part of the Google Lunar X-Prize contest, iSpace Inc has partnered with the Indian Indus team. Both partners would use a rocket developed by the Indian Space Research Organization to send their respective rover to the moon in December 2017.
Lunar X-Prize deadline approaching
Currently, only four teams have signed a contract guaranteeing the sending of a vehicle to our satellite next year. In addition to the two partners mentioned above, three organizations have validated their ticket. These include PT Scientists (Germany), Moon Express (United States) and SpaceIL (Israel). If they wish to continue to participate, the remaining 11 must sign a launch contract before the end of this year.
The Lunar X-Prize contest is a $ 30-million envelope. The largest share, $ 20 million, will be awarded to the winner. In addition to arriving first on the Moon, the vehicle must travel at least 500 meters on the surface and send several high-definition images and data to Earth. The second will receive $ 5 million while the rest will be awarded as a bonus to the team that will walk in the footsteps of Apollo or will succeed in finding water ice.
The technical skills aside, Lunar X-Prize is also a huge financial challenge. Participants must demonstrate that 90% of expenditure is covered by private funding.
0 comments:
Post a Comment