{"id":19104,"date":"2017-01-13T19:35:51","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T11:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/moon-express-reportedly-has-the-money-for-moonshot-but-launch-is-up-in-the-air\/"},"modified":"2017-01-13T19:35:51","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T11:35:51","slug":"moon-express-reportedly-has-the-money-for-moonshot-but-launch-is-up-in-the-air","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/moon-express-reportedly-has-the-money-for-moonshot-but-launch-is-up-in-the-air\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon Express reportedly has the money for moonshot \u2013 but launch is up in the air"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_253582\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-253582\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-253582\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/160606-moonex-630x420.jpg\" alt=\"Moon Express selfie\" width=\"630\" height=\"420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/160606-moonex-630x420.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/160606-moonex-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/160606-moonex-1240x828.jpg 1240w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/160606-moonex.jpg 1275w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-253582\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows Moon Express\u2019 lander extending its robotic arm to take a \u201cselfie\u201d of the spacecraft on the lunar surface with Earth in the background. (Credit: Moon Express)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>An executive at Moon Express has been widely quoted as saying&nbsp;his company has reached its funding goal for this year\u2019s planned commercial mission to the lunar surface, thanks to $20 million in new investment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe now have all the resources in place to shoot for the moon,\u201d the Florida-based company\u2019s CEO, Bob Richards, said in a statement. \u201cOur goal is to expand Earth\u2019s social and economic sphere to the moon, our largely unexplored eighth continent, and enable a new era of low-cost lunar exploration and development for students, scientists, space agencies and commercial interests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Space News quoted Richards as saying&nbsp;that the latest round of investment includes contributions from new and existing investors, including the company\u2019s chairman and co-founder, Seattle-area tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe not only participated at a significant financial level, but also gave other investors the confidence through his commitment that they should invest as well,\u201d Richards told Space News in an interview.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=819949621892026368&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2017%2Fmoon-express-money-lunar-mission%2F&amp;sessionId=a596ce9e0f402229813b3cd49696bc5cebd76fe1&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"819949621892026368\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782803583541653777=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We&#8217;re go with funding for our maiden mission &amp; our bid for the @XPRIZE @GLXP via @SpaceNews_Inc https:\/\/t.co\/uL3lwFB9TD pic.twitter.com\/Gn3lJFuHzW<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bob Richards \ud83c\udf0e (@Bob_Richards) January 13, 2017<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Jain declined to comment on Space News\u2019 report, or several&nbsp;other reports that were published today.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Jain, the&nbsp;investors in Moon Express include Autodesk, Social Capital and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel\u2019s Founders Fund.<\/p>\n<p>Moon Express has preliminary approval for its payload from the U.S. government. It has its spacecraft, and&nbsp;it has a verified contract for the launch of its&nbsp;lander. The one big-ticket item it doesn\u2019t have is a rocket that\u2019s been flight-tested.<\/p>\n<p>Moon Express\u2019 contract calls on Los Angeles-based Rocket Lab to send its MX-1E lander&nbsp;into low Earth orbit atop a low-cost Electron rocket that\u2019s to be launched from New Zealand. The lander has to be launched this year to meet the deadline for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition.<\/p>\n<p>The contest\u2019s $20 million top prize would go to the first team to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, travel at least 500 meters (three-tenths of a mile) and send live video and pictures back to Earth. But if&nbsp;no team pulls off the feat by the end of 2017, the money goes unwon.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Moon Shot | Episode 6 | Cape Canaveral: Moon Express\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fuz4K__Rri4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Rocket Lab has finished construction of its rocket complex on New Zealand\u2019s Mahia Peninsula, and it has finished ground testing of the Electron\u2019s liquid-fueled Rutherford rocket engine. It still lacks the New Zealand government\u2019s authorization for launch, however, and thus has not yet conducted any flight tests.<\/p>\n<p>Moon Express and Rocket Lab are counting on the schedule to come together in time for a&nbsp;moonshot&nbsp;by the end of the year. In the meantime, Moon Express is reportedly beefing up the propulsion system on its spacecraft to make sure the lander can bridge the gap between low Earth orbit and the lunar surface.<\/p>\n<p>At least four other Google Lunar X Prize teams&nbsp;\u2013 SpaceIL, Synergy Moon, Team Indus and Team Hakuto&nbsp;\u2013 have secured verified contracts for launch. One additional&nbsp;team, PTScientists, has said it\u2019s waiting for the contest organizers to verify its arrangements with Seattle-based Spaceflight.<\/p>\n<p><em>This report has been updated after contacting Naveen Jain.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows Moon Express\u2019 lander extending its robotic arm to take a \u201cselfie\u201d of the spacecraft on the lunar surface with Earth in the background. (Credit: Moon Express) An executive at Moon Express has been widely quoted as saying&nbsp;his company has reached its funding goal for this year\u2019s planned commercial mission to the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[291,2670,625,2910],"class_list":["post-19104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-google-lunar-x-prize","tag-moon","tag-moon-express"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19104"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}