{"id":19414,"date":"2016-04-09T00:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T16:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/moon-express-asks-faa-to-review-its-plans-for-google-lunar-x-prize-landing-in-2017\/"},"modified":"2016-04-09T00:18:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T16:18:00","slug":"moon-express-asks-faa-to-review-its-plans-for-google-lunar-x-prize-landing-in-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/moon-express-asks-faa-to-review-its-plans-for-google-lunar-x-prize-landing-in-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon Express asks FAA to review its plans for Google Lunar X Prize landing in 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_242710\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-242710\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-242710 size-full-width\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/160408-moonex-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Moon Express MX-1 lander\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/160408-moonex-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/160408-moonex-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/160408-moonex.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-242710\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows the Moon Express MX-1 spacecraft orbiting the moon in preparation for landing. (Credit: Moon Express)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Moon Express, the lunar exploration venture backed by Seattle tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain, says it\u2019s asking the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct a payload review of its spacecraft and plans for a mission to the moon in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>The request is aimed at heading off regulatory uncertainty about the mission, which is aimed at winning the Google Lunar X Prize.<\/p>\n<p>Moon Express ranks among the front-runners in the $30 million competition, which calls for teams to send landers to the moon, travel along the surface and send back real-time video by the end of next year.<\/p>\n<p>Such a feat would represent a first for commercial space ventures, but because it\u2019s unprecedented, it\u2019s not fully clear what kind of regulatory go-ahead would be required for a U.S.-based company. So far, only governmental space programs have sent probes beyond Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Moon Express\u2019 plan calls for the launch to be provided by Rocket Lab, which is structured as a U.S. corporation with a New Zealand subsidiary. The launch would take off from a pad on New Zealand\u2019s Mahia Peninsula that\u2019s been&nbsp;under construction. Last month, Rocket Lab qualified its Rutherford rocket engine for flight, but it hasn\u2019t yet started testing its Electron launch vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>Even though liftoff would take place in New Zealand, using a New Zealand-built rocket, the&nbsp;launch would have to be licensed by the FAA, Moon Express CEO Bob Richards said in a tweet.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"An Interview with Bob Richards, Moon Express Inc. founder and CEO\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2ca874kxzak?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>In a news release, Moon Express said its representatives have consulted with U.S. government officials to fashion an interim \u201cMission Approval\u201d process, aimed at making sure the 2017 mission doesn\u2019t run afoul of regulatory requirements or international treaty obligations.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s submission of an \u201cenhanced payload review application\u201d to the FAA initiated the process, Richards said.<\/p>\n<p>The arrangement combines existing launch approval procedures with voluntary disclosures aimed at assuring the U.S. government that Moon Express won\u2019t interfere with existing lunar operations or with heritage sites on the moon\u2019s surface. Moon Express also will declare its intent to respect international conventions on planetary protection&nbsp;that call for avoiding harmful contamination of the moon.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"icon-quotes-left\"><\/span>&nbsp;Regulatory uncertainty could become the greatest risk for non-traditional space activities.<span class=\"icon-quotes-right\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>In a statement, U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., hailed the interim arrangement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRegulatory uncertainty could become the greatest risk for non-traditional space activities,\u201d Bridenstine said. \u201cThe mission approval framework created by Moon Express is an elegant solution to increase regulatory certainty and comply with treaty obligations. I look forward to building off this proposal in the American Space Renaissance Act, comprehensive space legislation I will be introducing soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Congress passed a law supporting the rights of commercial space ventures&nbsp;to extract, use and sell resources from the moon, asteroids and other celestial bodies, consistent with international obligations.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Moon Express, Israeli-based Team SpaceIL has struck a deal for a Google Lunar X Prize launch in 2017 with an assist from SpaceX and Seattle\u2019s Spaceflight Inc. U.S.-based Astrobotic is working on launch arrangements as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows the Moon Express MX-1 spacecraft orbiting the moon in preparation for landing. (Credit: Moon Express) Moon Express, the lunar exploration venture backed by Seattle tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain, says it\u2019s asking the Federal Aviation Administration to conduct a payload review of its spacecraft and plans for a mission to the moon [&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":[291,318,2670,625,2910,5157],"class_list":["post-19414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-commercial-space","tag-faa","tag-google-lunar-x-prize","tag-moon","tag-moon-express","tag-naveen-jain"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19414"}],"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=19414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}