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Private company enters Lunar X Prize competition |
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Written by Derek Kessler on
Thursday, 06 December 2007
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 The first team to complete its registration for the Google Lunar X Prize competition is the private company Odyssey Moon. Based on the Isle of Man (off the west coast of Great Britain), Odyssey Moon is an international endeavour, with executives from several space technology companies and a partnership wih The Planetary Society. They revealed that their prime contractor for the requisite lunar lander will be MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates of Canada, a company specializing in space hardware, including the robust and versatile Canadarm robotic appendages installed aboard US space shuttles and the ISS.
Oddysey Moon's strategy for getting their rover to the moon aboard a privately-built rocket is being unveiled at the Space Investment Summit 3 in San Jose, California. Robert Richards, CEO of Oddysey Moon (and co-founder of the International Space University) said "Our team draws upon a substantial amount of business and technology expertise. We totally believe that this is technically feasible... We believe there's going to be a 'Moon Rush' ... which means that there's a viable, supportable and sustainable commercial lunar business plan based on markets that we believe exist ... and will exist."
The $30 million Lunar X Prize is being bankrolled by internet giant Google. In order to secure the grand prize of $20 million, entrants must land a robotic rover on the moon, drive it at least 500 meters, and transmit back to Earth 1 GB of high definition video and images. A $5 million second prize, and an addition $5 million in bonuses for completely extra tasks will also be available. X Prize chairman Peter Diamandis is confident that the competition will be won by 2013.
Richards understands the cost mechanics of the prize, especially after examining the winner of the Ansari X Prize: Scaled Composite's SpaceShipOne. The company spent $30 million to develop a suborbital rocket plane that won the $10 million prize. "You're looking at a $60 million to $100 million venture. I'd like to see hundreds of millions of dollars of effort going into bringing down the cost of access to the Moon ... to bring new innovation into commercial lunar enterprise."
"We want to set the bar very high ... and we do intend to win," he concluded.
Read: Google Lunar X Prize
Discuss: TrekUnited Forum
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