The Channel Wire

February 22, 2008

Ten teams have registered with Google and the X Prize Foundation in a robotic race to the moon that is worth $30 million in prizes. The teams will compete to land a privately funded robotic craft on the moon. The vehicle must be capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and send video, images and data back to Earth, according to Dr. Peter Diamindis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation.. "Only 6 months after the announcement of this competition, the response has been incredible. We've received over 560 expressions of interest from more than 53 nations. "I think we're going to see an exciting and very competitive race to the moon, highlighted by some very creative designs unlike anything we've seen come out of the government space programs. Many of these teams represent some of the most creative and entrepreneurial minds in space exploration today. I wish them all the very best of luck. I can't wait to join with Google in paying the winner," said Diamandis in a statement.

He added that the competition has garnered 560 "expressions of interest" from more than 50 nations. The ten teams are: Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association, Astrobotic, Chandah, Frednet, Lunatrex, Micro-Space, Odyssey Moon, Quantum3 Ventures, Southern California Selene Group, and Team Italia. "We are excited that ten teams from around the world have taken up the challenge of the Google Lunar X Prize," said Megan Smith, Google's vice president for new business development, in a statement. "We look forward to the exciting achievements and scientific advancements that will result from the efforts of these teams as they participate in the next great space race."

The X Prize Foundation also announced that Space Florida, a group created by the Florida Legislature, has been named a preferred partner and the first preferred launch site for the competition. Preferred partners can offer additional prizes or strategic services at a discounted rate to all teams. Space Florida will award an additional $2 million to the winner if the winner launches the craft from the state of Florida. The grand prize winner will receive $20 million, a second-place winner receives $5 million and there is an anddtional $5 million in bonus prizes. Teams have until Dec. 31, 2012, to qualify for the $20 million prize. After that, the award drops to $2 million for two years. One of the teams, Quantum3, said this week it plans to focus on a spacecraft named Moondancer, that it plans to land on the surface of the moon at the Sea of Tranquility, the historic site of the world's first manned moon landing. Moondancer will take off on its lunar journey from an East Coast range using a launch-coast-burn trajectory that will culminate in a propulsive soft landing on the Moon, according to the private enterprise headquartered in Washington, D.C.

"The original human landing on the moon was an American-led mission carried out in the best tradition of our nation's pioneering spirit," said Paul Carliner, co-founder and president of Quantum3, in a statement. "As we approach the 40th anniversary of that mission, Quantum3 will field an American-led team using American technology to win this challenge." Another competitor, Team LunaTrex, said in a release this week that it is committed to creating a sustainable space business with a craft that could make multiple missions.

"We want to be able to make access to space, to the Moon, as affordable and reliable as possible, and do missions like the [Google Lunar X Prize] pursuit not just once, but repeatedly. Another factor is that we are intent on doing the mission for less money than the grand prize payout. It is in this that we believe we represent the spirit of the X-Prize: to make space accessible and affordable to the private sector," the company said in a statement.