Moon Express will be first private company in history to land on the moon
- 8 years ago
The United States government has granted a Mountain View, California-based company permission to launch a mission to the moon, the first time the government has allowed a company to conduct a commercial space mission beyond Earth’s orbit.
“We choose to go to the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s a good business,” the founder and chairman of Moon Express, Naveen Jain, said on the company’s Facebook page.
Moon Express’ The MX-1 is about the size of a coffee table. It will be launched sometime in 2017 on an Electron rocket, a rocket currently being built by startup Rocket Lab.
The MX-1 will carry a scientific and commercial payload that includes cremated human remains. It will also transmit pictures and videos of the moon back to Earth.
The spacecraft is solar-powered and uses hydrogen peroxide as rocket fuel.
Its missions include mining for resources such as water and Helium-3. It can also serve as a refueling station for other satellites.
At the moment, commercial satellites have only gone as far as the geosynchronous orbit, about 22,000 miles above Earth.
Only three nation states -- the United States, the former Soviet Union and China -- have landed on the moon.
However, the permission granted to Moon Express does not guarantee access for other private companies to the moon. The company said its permission was a onetime deal and that all future requests will be reviewed case by case until new laws are passed.
“We choose to go to the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s a good business,” the founder and chairman of Moon Express, Naveen Jain, said on the company’s Facebook page.
Moon Express’ The MX-1 is about the size of a coffee table. It will be launched sometime in 2017 on an Electron rocket, a rocket currently being built by startup Rocket Lab.
The MX-1 will carry a scientific and commercial payload that includes cremated human remains. It will also transmit pictures and videos of the moon back to Earth.
The spacecraft is solar-powered and uses hydrogen peroxide as rocket fuel.
Its missions include mining for resources such as water and Helium-3. It can also serve as a refueling station for other satellites.
At the moment, commercial satellites have only gone as far as the geosynchronous orbit, about 22,000 miles above Earth.
Only three nation states -- the United States, the former Soviet Union and China -- have landed on the moon.
However, the permission granted to Moon Express does not guarantee access for other private companies to the moon. The company said its permission was a onetime deal and that all future requests will be reviewed case by case until new laws are passed.