Google’s Lunar XPrize will continue, without Google
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Sometimes the prize isn’t the prize, it’s just a bonus, and in this case most of the teams who were involved in the original Google Lunar XPrize still have their sights set on a Moon landing in 2019. The Google Lunar XPRIZE, a $30...
$30m Google Lunar XPrize moonshot competition ends without a winner
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Google Lunar XPrize was ambitious moonshot, but, like any competition time was against the teams from the start. After 10 long years, the Google sponsored competition, the Google Lunar XPrize, which aimed to land a robot on the moon for millions of dollars of prize money...
The Moon beckons as five Lunar XPRIZE teams make it to the final round
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The race to be the first private company to land on the Moon is on, and now just five teams are left in the running. Google’s Lunar XPRIZE team have announced that five of the original sixteen private space companies have managed to book...
Two Google XPRIZE teams join forces to land on the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF For the sixteen private teams racing to land a lunar rover on the moon in 2017 achieving the goal is more important than the politics. Two teams competing for the Google Lunar XPRIZE have decided to join forces and have signed a ride share...
Japan joins the race to mine the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Outer space contains an unlimited amount of resources, from Platinum and ice to Helium-3, now, as we become a space faring species our future space exploration, outposts and transportation will rely on companies who can mine and process it. The Japanese Space Exploration Agency...
Audi puts its new Quattro Lunar Rover through its paces
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The cost of space travel has fallen dramatically over the past decade and now Google wants to encourage private organisations and entrepreneurs to take the next bold step in humanity’s story. In 2015 Audi, the luxury car brand, announced it would be “taking off...
Mining the Moon, Moon Express sets 2017 launch date
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The Moon contains trillions of dollars worth of minerals and rare earth metals but mining and transporting them has been technically and commercially challenging, but over the next few decades that could change. Earlier this year Moon Express, a private venture, founded by billionaire...
The first private moon landing gets the green light
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF More and more private organisations are taking on the final frontier, now Moon Express have a license to land on the Moon. Less than half a century after Neil Armstrong became the first man to step foot on the moon the FAA has granted approval...
JJ Abrams Moon Shot shorts show off the scientists behind Google’s Lunar XPRIZE
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Access to space was once the preserve of rich government institutions but with costs falling the sky’s the limit as private entrepreneurs set their sights on landing on the Moon. It can be easy to forget the human element behind robotic spaceflight. When we...
