The tender would award $ 20 million to any private company that managed to land a spacecraft and a robotic rover on the moon.
The $ 20 million Google Lunar X Prize competition for any private company that managed to land a spacecraft and a robotic rover on the moon by March 31, 2018, ended prematurely without a winner, as it was judged that none of the five contestants left in the "race", he would not make it in time.
The competition was announced in 2007 and was organized by the visionary Greek-American engineer and businessman Peter Diamantis, president of the X Prize Foundation, in collaboration with Google. The aim was to encourage private commercial space missions, starting with the Moon. In addition to the first prize of $ 20 million, the second would receive $ 5 million, while another $ 5 million would be distributed to those who excelled.
"After many months of close consultation with the five finalist teams of the competition, we came to the conclusion that no team tried to reach the Moon by the deadline of March 31," said Mr. Diamantis. "Because of the difficulty in raising funding and other technical and regulatory challenges, the grand Google Lunar X Prize will not be claimed by anyone," he added.
The winner had to send a robotic vehicle to the moon, move it for at least 500 meters and send high-resolution photos and videos to Earth. The original deadline was at the end of 2012, but had to be extended four times, until it was finally set for the end of March this year - but again to no avail. According to information, Google - which put the prize money - did not want to give a new extension.
The always optimistic P. Diamantis stated that "the X Prize is looking for new ways to move on from now on. "It could be finding a new sponsor who will contribute the prize money, following in the footsteps of Google, or continuing the Lunar X Prize, but without a cash prize."
The five finalists who did not make it were the American Moon Express, the Japanese Team Hakuto, the Israeli SpaceIL, the Indian Team Indus and the international team Synergy Moon.
A spokesman for the Israeli team said: "SpaceIL is committed to landing the first Israeli spacecraft on the moon, regardless of the Lunar X award. We are at the height of our efforts to raise funds for this project and we are preparing for the launch."
It remains unclear what plans the other teams have and whether they will continue the effort to "conquer" the Moon.
(Photo: Bill Ingalls / NASA via AP)
Source: News247