Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/807573
52 www.resourceworld.com A P R I L / M A Y 2 0 1 7 MINING C ape Canaveral, Florida-based pri- vate company, Moon Express, recently raised its newest round of financing of US $20 million, bringing the total company financing to over $45 million, that will assist the company to be the first non-governmental organization to reach the Moon, with a planned maiden launch later this year. The company has already received US government approval after submitting its request for a robotic lunar landing to the Federal Aviation Administration and consultations with the White House and NASA, making it the first private company approved for commercial space missions beyond Earth orbit. Moon Express is also one of five remain- ing teams competing for the US $20 million Google Lunar XPRIZE that was launched in 2007 with three qualifications to win: successfully place a spacecraft on the moon's surface; travel 500 metres; and transmit high-definition video and images back to Earth. Dr. Bob Richards, co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, told Resource World, "Google is one of many customers on our maiden mission, which would be happen- ing with or without the existence of the competition. Although we applaud the Google Lunar XPRIZE and are happy to be part of it, our business plans are indepen- dent of the prize and always have been." Richards, a Canadian graduate of Space Science at Cornell University and for- mer Special Assistant to Carl Sagan, said, "The Moon Express early business focus is reducing the cost of transportation beyond Earth orbit and to the Moon, with a long term goal of exploring and harvest- ing lunar resources. We have three initial missions planned: our maiden mission in 2017, a south pole mission in 2018/19, and a sample return mission in 2020." Unlike some other planetary explora- tion vehicles, the Moon Express lunar lander does not have wheels. Instead, it has rocket engines. "Our MX-1E spacecraft / lander has 17 rocket engines. The main rocket engine is a bi-propellant hydrogen peroxide / kerosene (HTP/RP-1). Other course-thrusters are mono-propellant HTP and our attitude control rockets use a cold gas system." To get the Moon Express spacecraft / lander to the moon, the company will utilize the services of New Zealand- Moon Express preparing for robotic lunar mission by Ellsworth Dickson