Google-backed Moon Race Nears Finish Line

Irene Klotz November 16, 2017

Team SpaceIL

Credit: SpaceIL

Israel-based nonprofit SpaceIL is looking to create an “Apollo effect” among students to stimulate interest in math, engineering and the sciences. The SpaceIL lander, which is approximately the size of a dishwasher, is designed to hop on the lunar surface. It is scheduled to fly as a secondary payload aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in 2018. 

Moon Express

Credit: NASA

Cape Canaveral-based Moon Express, the only U.S. contender for the Google Lunar X-Prize, aims to launch its first mission, Lunar Scout, in early 2018 aboard a Rocket Lab Electron booster. Whether it wins the prize or not, Moon Express is developing a business to fly payloads and provide services for an array of customers including universities, governments and private companies. 

Synergy Moon International

Credit: Synergy Moon International

Launching aboard an unproven Neptune 8 rocket built by Mojave, California-based Interorbital Systems, Synergy Moon, an international collaboration, aims to put a lander and a rover on the surface of the Moon. 

TeamIndus

Credit: TeamIndus

India’s TeamIndus has a ride into space from the Indian Space Research Organization and a targeted launch date of Dec. 28. 

Team Hakuto

Credit: Team Hakuto

Operated by Ispace Inc., a Tokyo startup developing a lunar-mining business, Team Hakuto has an agreement to share a ride with TeamIndus aboard an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.

From an original pool of 33 contenders, five teams remain in the running for $30 million in prize funds offered by the Google Lunar X-Prize competition. The deadline to complete all contest milestones—which include landing on the Moon, transmitting high-definition video and traveling at least 1,640 ft. (500 m) on the lunar surface—is March 31, 2018.

Read more about the new Moon race: Companies Look To Make The Moon A New Commercial Frontier

Irene Klotz

Irene Klotz is Senior Space Editor for Aviation Week, based in Cape Canaveral. Before joining Aviation Week in 2017, Irene spent 25 years as a wire service reporter covering human and robotic spaceflight, commercial space, astronomy, science and technology for Reuters and United Press International.