american privately held early stage company formed by a group of silicon valley and space entrepreneurs with the goal of winning the google lunar x prize and ultimately mining the moon for natural resources of economic value . 1 2 contents 1 history 2 legal regime for lunar resource extraction 3 mission plans 3.1 initial contract 3.2 rocket 3.3 google lunar xprize 3.4 other mission plans 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit in august 2010 3 naveen jain 4 barney pell and robert d. richards 5 co founded moon express a mountain view california based company that plans to offer commercial lunar robotic transportation and data services with a long term goal of mining the moon for resources 6 including elements that are rare on earth including niobium yttrium and dysprosium . 1 7 on june 30 2011 the company held its first successful test flight of a prototype lunar lander system called the lander test vehicle ltv that was developed in partnership with nasa . 5 on september 11 2011 moon express announced that it had set up a robotics lab for a lunar probe named the moon express robotics lab for innovation merlin and hired several engineering students who had successfully competed at the first robotics competition . in mid 2012 moon express announced that it will work with international lunar observatory association iloa to put a shoebox sized astronomical telescope on the moon . 8 additional details were released in july 2013 including that there would be two telescopes a 2 meters 6 ft 7 in radio telescope as well as an optical telescope . the preferred location is 5 kilometers 3.1 mi high malapert crater with plans to land the mission no earlier than 2018 . 9 by 2012 moonex had 20 employees . in december 2012 moonex acquired one of the other google lunar x prize teams rocket city space pioneers from dynetics for an undisclosed sum . the new agreement makes tim pickens the former lead of the rcsp team the chief propulsion engineer for moonex . 10 in september 2013 moonex added paul spudis as chief scientist and jack burns as science advisory board chair . 11 in october and november 2013 moon express successfully conducted several free flight tests of its flight software utilizing the nasa mighty eagle lander test vehicle under a reimbursable space act agreement with the nasa marshall space flight center . 12 in december 2013 moonex unveiled the mx 1 lunar lander a toroidal robotic lander that uses high test hydrogen peroxide as its rocket propellant to support vertical landing on the lunar surface . 13 on april 30 2014 nasa announced that moon express inc. was one of the three companies selected for the lunar catalyst initiative . 14 the moon express mx 1 spacecraft is designed to be launched as a secondary payload and to fly to the moon from geo . 15 in december 2014 moon express successfully conducted flight tests of its mtv 1x lander test vehicle at the kennedy space center shuttle landing facility becoming the first private company and glxp team to demonstrate a commercial lunar lander . 16 in october 2015 moon express announced a launch contract with rocket lab to launch three moon express robotic spacecraft to land on the moon with two launches manifested in 2017 utilizing an electron launch vehicle . 17 in june 2016 the federal aviation administration approved plans for a mission to deliver a commercial package to the moon in late 2017 . 18 19 legal regime for lunar resource extraction edit although the requisite legal regime to enable mining of lunar resources is not fully in place 20 major world space agencies including nasa have put in place a coordination framework for encouraging the type of commercial activity proposed by moon express . entrepreneurs are thinking about further commercial expansion into space . as space exploration extends to the moon and mars there will be potential opportunities for companies to provide ... space based resource extraction and processing capabilities . for example moon rocks are rich in oxygen that might be exploited to provide life support systems for lunar operations . liquid oxygen can also be used as a rocket propellant and it might be more economical to manufacture it in space than to lift it off the earth . mining the moon might also yield titanium a strong but light metal favoured for high end aerospace applications . finally the moon s known abundance of helium 3 could prove valuable if fusion reactors ever become feasible in the future . 21 for business to be confident about investing it needs the certainty of a long term commitment to space exploration the opportunity to introduce its ideas into government thinking and the rule of law . this means common understanding on such difficult issues as property rights and technology transfer . the coordination mechanism foreseen as part of the global exploration strategy will provide a forum to discuss these important issues . 21 the views of moon express on the legal and political realities of lunar resource utilization were articulated in an april 2011 los angeles times article where naveen jain was interviewed the idea of exploiting the moon s resources for private gain is not likely to be a concern jain said . the united states he said has already brought back moon rocks to our country without any other country fighting war over it . i also think that the moon will be treated no differently than the international water in our oceans he added . in this case no one really owns the water but any company or country can mine the resources from the international water as long as they follow certain safety moral guidelines . jain also noted that there is strong legal precedent and consensus of finders keepers for resources that are liberated through private investment and the same will be true on the moon . you don t have to own land to have ownership of resources you unlock from it . moon express will use existing precedents of peaceful presence and exploration set by the u.s. government 40 years ago . 1 the outer space treaty of 1967 ratified by 100 nations including the united states forbids countries from claiming sovereignty over any part of the moon but does not prevent private companies from building or staking claims on the moon . mining could fall under similar legal parameters as fishing in international waters . 22 mission plans edit initial contract edit moon express has received a nasa contract when for data purchase that could be worth up to us 10 000 000 . 1 23 moon express is also partnered with nasa through a reimbursable space act agreement that allowed moon express to invest over 500k into the commercialization of technology developed by nasa . 5 rocket edit on 30 september 2015 moon express signed a rocket launch contract with rocket lab a new zealand startup company . 24 25 under the launch services contract rocket lab will use its electron rocket system to launch three missions . two launches are for 2017 with the third to be scheduled at a later date . 24 google lunar xprize edit the company is also a competitor in the google lunar x prize . 26 as of october 2015 there are 16 teams competing for the google lunar xprize two of which have launch contracts for 2017 spaceil and moon express . this prize will award 20 million to the first team to put a robotic spacecraft on the moon and deliver data images and video from the landing site and 500 meters away . 4 other mission plans edit in addition to participation in the google lunar xprize with a planned maiden technology demonstrator flight in 2015 13 moonex is planning to place the international lunar observatory ilo on the moon as early as 2018 . the plan calls for placement of both a 2 meters 6 ft 7 in radio telescope as well as an optical telescope at the south pole of the moon . the preferred location as of july 2013 update is 5 kilometers 3.1 mi high malapert crater . 9 see also edit exogeology geology of the moon references edit a b c d hennigan w.j. 2011 08 20 . moonex aims to scour moon for rare materials . los angeles times . retrieved 2011 04 10 . moonex s machines are designed to look for materials that are scarce on earth but found in everything from a toyota prius car battery to guidance systems on cruise missiles . ... the company is among several teams hoping to someday win the google lunar x prize competition a 30 million race to the moon in which a privately funded team must successfully place a robot on the moon s surface and have it explore at least 1 3 of a mile . it also must transmit high definition video and images back to earth before 2016 . ... should be ready to land on the lunar surface by 2013 . brown 2011 . chow 2011 . a b caulfield brian . naveen jain think of the moon as just another continent . forbes . retrieved august 16 2011 . a b c moon express announces first successful flight test of lunar lander system developed with nasa partnership . moon express . retrieved august 16 2011 . knafo saki july 22 2011 . the new space biz companies seek cash in the cosmos . huffington post . retrieved august 16 2011 . moving the heaven to get some rare earth . chennai india the hindu . june 2 2011 . retrieved june 7 2011 . sutherland paul . moon express to fly lunar telescope . sen.com . retrieved 19 august 2012 . a b mann adam 2013 07 18 . the private plan to put a telescope on the moon . wired . retrieved 2013 07 21 . lindsey clark 2012 12 20 . moonex acquires rcsp of dynetics . newspace watch . retrieved 2012 12 21 . subscription required help . kohlenberg brad 2013 09 05 . moon express announces dr. paul spudis as chief scientist and dr. jack burns as science advisory board chair . google lunar xprize blog . retrieved 2013 09 16 . mohon lee 15 may 2015 . nasa s marshall space flight center s mighty eagle successfully conclu . a b messier doug 2013 12 05 . moon express unveils mx 1 commercial lunar lander . parabolic arc . retrieved 2013 12 07 . release 14 126 nasa selects partners for u.s. commercial lander capabilities . nasa.gov website . nasa . april 30 2014 . retrieved may 3 2014 . james dean november 3 2014 . start up at ksc eyes google lunar xprize . florida today . retrieved november 3 2014 . herridge linda 3 march 2015 . moon express completes initial flight tests at nasa s kennedy . moon express buys rocket lab launches for lunar missions spacenews.com . 1 october 2015 . pasztor andy june 5 2016 . u.s. set to approve moon mission by commercial space venture . the wall street journal . retrieved june 6 2016 . florida company gets approval to put robotic lander on moon . the new york times . 4 august 2016 . moon mars asteroids where to go first for resources ssi tv video archive recorded on november 9 2010 74 37 panel discussion held during the space studies institute s space manufacturing 14 conference in california . moderated by tech investor esther dyson the discussion included prof. michael a hearn university of maryland dept. of astronomy prof. greg baiden penguin automated systems mark sonter asteroid enterprises pty ltd prof. john s. lewis space studies institute dr. paul spudis lunar and planetary institute and jeff greason xcor aerospace . a b the global exploration