News Archive / Tagged: Google Lunar X-Prize

• Russian launch services operator eyes lunar mission in early 2020s

  Curt GodwinAugust 8th, 2017

  While several private companies are vying to claim their share of the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP) by landing a spacecraft on the Moon before 2017 ends, they aren't the only ones with a focus on Earth's natural satellite. Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Russia's Roscosmos, has announced their intention of launching small vehicles as co-manifested payloads on larger Moon-bound missions.

• Moon Express announces trio of expeditions to the Moon

  Curt GodwinJuly 14th, 2017

  On July 12, 2017, NewSpace company Moon Express announced plans for a trio of missions to the Moon, the first of which is tentatively scheduled for late in 2017 – potentially making them the first commercial company to reach Earth's natural satellite.

• Grabbe joins Astrobotic’s team

  Jason RhianMay 24th, 2017

  Google Lunar X PRIZE contestant Astrobotic, at one time considered by many to be the frontrunner in the effort to land the first commercial rover on the surface of the Moon (they have since dropped out of the contest), has tapped Kit Grabbe to serve as the organization's Principal Systems Engineer.

• Team Indus joins Google Lunar X-Prize finalists, Astrobotic drops out

  Collin SkocikDecember 23rd, 2016

  One of the prerequisites of staying in the Google Lunar XPRIZE (GLXP) is securing a contract with a launch service provider. India-based Team Indus has successfully done that by contracting with the manufacturer of the country’s PSLV rocket. At the same time, Astrobotic, the first team to secure a contract back in 2011, announced that it is dropping out of the competition after losing its window with SpaceX's Falcon 9.

• Moon Express seeking U.S. government permission to land on Moon

  Bart LeahyJune 14th, 2016

  At the 44th Space Congress held in Cape Canaveral on May 25, Bob Richards, co-founder, President, and CEO of Moon Express, declared that “Government policy has become the highest risk to development” in space. As a contender in the Google Lunar X Prize, Richards would be in a good position to know: Moon Express has become the first private company to seek permission to send a spacecraft beyond Earth orbit to the surface of the Moon.

• GLXP Director: Soft landing on Moon an extraordinary challenge

  Tomasz NowakowskiApril 2nd, 2015

  On Dec. 14, 2013, China’s Chang’e 3 spacecraft became the first probe to soft land on the Moon since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 accomplished this feat in 1976. Other missions could soon follow these robotic footsteps soon as the commercial teams participating in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, prepare to journey the Moon. However, a lunar […]