Google Lunar XPrize: Race To The Moon For $20 Million Prize, Dec. 31 Is The Deadline For Launch

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The Google Lunar XPrize (GLXP) is a competitive race to the moon. Independent teams from all over the world are participating in it to win prizes worth $30 million. The aim of GLXP is to foster the development of commercial space exploration. The first team whose vehicle will land on the moon and cover a distance of 500 meters of the lunar surface while streaming high-definition video to the Earth will win a prize of $20 million. The second GLXP winner will get $5 million. The next two to reach the moon and send the HD video of their journey on the moon will also receive prizes worth millions of dollars. There are bonuses too - for covering extra distance, and for visiting historic sites.

According to the CNET, over 30 teams from across the globe had applied for the Google Lunar XPrize contest. Now, only five remain - Moon Express (American team working with Rocket Lab USA), SpaceIL (Israel-based team working with SpaceX), Synergy Moon (international team working with Interorbital Systems), Team Indus (Indian team working with ISRO), and Hakuto (Japanese team whose rover will hitch a ride with the Team Indus' launcher). These five are the only ones to have secured launch contract for their lunar landers valid till Dec. 31, 2017.

Any GLXP team that fails to launch its space vehicle in time will automatically be considered out of the Google Lunar XPrize race. The original announcement about the GLXP was made in 2007. Since then, many people have applied for it or dropped out of it. Hakuto, the Japanese team, will hitch the ride with the vehicle made by the Team Indus, which is representing the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). , carrying Hakuto's rovers as well.

The New York Times reported that if Team Indus' lander is the first one to land on the moon, its rover and the Hakuto's rover will race for the 500-meter distance on the lunar surface to win the $20 million Google Lunar XPrize. At present, the rovers of both Hakuto and Team Indus have a top speed of about 4 inches a second. So, it will be interesting to see whether Hakuto will be able to win the race without ever building a lander of its own.

The most conspicuous absence in the Google Lunar XPrize competitors is that of Astrobiotic which was backed by Carnegie Mellon. Astrobiotic's launch has been delayed to 2019. Part-Time Scientists (a German team that had partnered with the famous car manufacturer Audi to build its land rover) is also planning to launch its space vehicle in mid-2018. The German rover will be called the "Audi Lunar Quattro" and will have the four-ring Audi logo on the front.