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#News(Startup) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]
NASA says it will spend more than $250 million hiring private companies to transport scientific missions to the moon. These privately operated missions, part of the US space agency’s broader rush back to the moon, are designed to gather data about the lunar surface and pilot technologies for landing robotic explorers.
The first US lunar lander in the 21st century will be designed in India, the result of NASA’s new willingness to outsource production of its space vehicles.
Three companies—Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Orbit Beyond—have been awarded contracts for missions into 2021. Orbit Beyond has the earliest target date for its mission, in September 2020.Orbit Beyond is unique among the nine other participants in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program in that it is a consortium. The design and engineering of its lander will be performed by TeamIndus, an Indian company. (The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is separately planning to launch its first moon lander, Chandrayaan-2, in July 2019.)
TeamIndus was created in 2010 to take part in the Google Lunar XPrize, a $30 million contest that could be won by sending a robot to the moon. The contest was canceled when it became clear none of the participants would make its deadline. But many haven’t given up; Israel’s SpaceIL attempted to land on the moon this year and failed, while other former contestants like Astrobotic or iSpace in Japan are planning to move ahead with their missions.
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