Google Lunar X Prize

Google Lunar X Prize
Google Lunar X Prize logo
Awarded for"landing a robot on the surface of the Moon, traveling 500 meters over the lunar surface, and sending images and data back to the Earth."[1]
CountryWorldwide
Presented byX Prize Foundation (organizer),
Google (sponsor)
Reward(s)US$20 million for the winner,
US$5 million for second place,
US$4 million in technical bonuses,
US$1 million diversity award
Websitelunar.xprize.org
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Trailer for the prize.

The Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) was a 2007–2018 inducement prize space competition organized by the X Prize Foundation, and sponsored by Google. The challenge called for privately funded teams to be the first to land a lunar rover on the Moon, travel 500 meters, and transmit back to Earth high-definition video and images.[2]

The original deadline was the end of 2014, with additional prize money for a landing by 2012. In 2015, XPRIZE announced that the competition deadline would be extended to December 2017 if at least one team could secure a verified launch contract by 31 December 2015.[3] Two teams secured such a launch contract, and the deadline was extended.[4] In August 2017, the deadline was extended again, to 31 March 2018.[5]

Entering 2018, five teams remained in the competition: SpaceIL,[6] Moon Express, Synergy Moon, TeamIndus, and Team Hakuto,[7] having secured verified launch contracts with Spaceflight Industries, Rocket Lab, Interorbital Systems, and ISRO (jointly for the last two teams).[4][8][9]

On 23 January 2018, the X Prize Foundation announced that "no team would be able to make a launch attempt to reach the Moon by the [31 March 2018] deadline...and the US$30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE will go unclaimed."[10][11] On 5 April 2018, the X Prize Foundation announced that the Lunar XPRIZE would continue as a non-cash competition.[12]

On 11 April 2019, the SpaceIL Beresheet spacecraft crashed while attempting to land on the moon. The SpaceIL team was awarded a $1 million "Moonshot Award" by the X Prize Foundation in recognition of touching the surface of the Moon.[13]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference GLXPabout2009 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Overview". Google Lunar XPRIZE. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Deadline For $30 Million Google Lunar XPRIZE Extended To End of 2017". Google Lunar XPRIZE. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Israeli Google Lunar XPRIZE Team Is First to Sign Launch Agreement For Private Mission to the Moon on SpaceX Falcon 9". Google Lunar XPRIZE. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  5. ^ Wall, Mike (16 August 2017). "Deadline for Google Lunar X Prize Moon Race Extended Through March 2018". space.com. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  6. ^ TheMarker (2017). "Israel's SpaceIL One of Five Finalists in Global Race to the Moon". Haaretz. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  7. ^ Wattles, Jackie. "Meet the 5 finalists in the Google XPrize moonshot". CNNMoney. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  8. ^ "XPRIZE Verifies Moon Express Launch Contract, Kicking Off New Space Race". Google Lunar XPRIZE. Archived from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  9. ^ "SYNERGY MOON Team Member Interorbital Systems to Serve as Launch Provider". Google Lunar XPRIZE. 30 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference sn20170123 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "Ex-Prize: Google's $30 Million Moon Race Ends with No Winner". Space.com. 23 January 2018.
  12. ^ Potenza, Alessanda (5 April 2018). "X Prize relaunches its Moon competition, but without a cash prize". Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference wall-3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).