First private moon trip scheduled for 2017

Israel's private space exploration company SpaceIL announced on Wednesday that it is the first team to get a launch contract to send its private rover to the moon.

The $ 30 million launch contract is a prize for winning the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition. The world's first private lunar mission will be done on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher from Spaceflight Industries. The trip is scheduled for the second half of 2017.

The announcement was made during a press conference in Jerusalem attended by Reuven Rivlin, Israeli President, and Bob Weiss, XPRIZE President. “We are very proud to officially confirm receipt and verification of the SpaceIL launch contract, which positions it as the first and only Google Lunar XPRIZE team to demonstrate this important achievement to date, ” said Bob Weiss, vice president. Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chairman of XPRIZE.

“The magnitude of this achievement is immeasurable, representing a monumental and unprecedented commitment to a privately funded organization, and ushering in an exciting stage of the competition where the remaining 15 teams now have until the end of 2016 to produce their own verified release contracts. This gives all of us at XPRIZE and Google very proud to say, 'The new space race has begun!'

About the competition

To win the Google Lunar XPRIZE Award winner, a privately funded team must successfully place an unmanned spacecraft on the moon's surface to explore at least 500 meters and transmit high definition video and images to Earth before the deadline. mission on December 31, 2017.

“Only three countries have 'softly landed' a robotic vehicle on the lunar surface: the United States, the former Soviet Union, and China. Now the idea of ​​the small state of Israel to be on this select list seems more promising than ever, ”said Eran Privman, CEO of SpaceIL. “Last year, we took important steps toward landing on the moon, both in terms of project financing and engineering design, and we are very excited now to finally secure our launch contract. This brings us much closer to realizing our vision of recreating an 'Apollo effect' in Israel: inspiring a whole new generation to pursue science, engineering, technology and mathematics. [(STEM) Science, Engineering, Technology, and Math ] ”.

The signing of the launch agreement was made possible by the completion of an additional fundraising round conducted by SpaceIL's two largest contributors: The Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Family Foundation and the Morris Kahn Kahn Foundation.

About the trip

SpaceIL has hired launch services from Spaceflight Industries, a US space company that recently acquired a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher and will manifest the SpaceIL spacecraft as its highlight, which will reside in a designated capsule within the launcher, among a group. of secondary loads. After the capsule detaches from the launcher, it will automatically release the spacecraft, which will use advanced navigation sensors to guide it to the lunar surface, with engineers in a mission control room sending remote commands and corrections as needed.

“We are very excited to work closely with the SpaceIL team to help them accomplish their mission to reach the moon, ” said Curt Blake, president of Spaceflight's launch business. "It's very gratifying to be an integral part of SpaceIL's quest for victory in the Google Lunar XPRIZE."

Also today, SpaceIL unveiled a new and improved design of its spacecraft, completed by its engineers with the advice of world-renowned Israeli designer Alex Padwa with regard to the exterior of the spacecraft. The first physical components of the new model are already beginning to reach SpaceIL's integration lab.

Via TecMundo.