Kiwi company Rocket Lab's electron rocket maybe heading to the moon as soon as 2017.
Kiwi company Rocket Lab's electron rocket maybe heading to the moon as soon as 2017.
Auckland-based Rocket Lab has signed a deal with a US company to send three rockets to the moon.
A contract has been signed with Moon Express - a San Francisco company 'focused on building a sustainable, full service space exploration business'.
Moon Express is chasing the Google Lunar XPRIZE - a competition to land a privately funded spacecraft o the moon, travel 500 metres and transmit high-def video and images back to earth.
The company was given a $1 million grant by Google earlier this year as "the only team to flight test a prototype of its lander".
Rocket Lab will charge between US$50,000 and US$90,000 for a single satellite of the smallest size. Prices for the larger 3u (unit) size satellite range between US$180,000 and US$250,000.
Rocket Lab's financial backers include Silicon Valley venture capitalists, Sir Stephen Tindall's K1W1 investment fund and Lockheed Martin. The company has received up to $25 million of government funding over five years.
Today's announcement from Moon Express co-Founder and chairman Naveen Jain said the company was building disruptive technologies "that will forever change the cost of access to space, including the asteroids and even the moons of Mars.
" We are now taking advantage of exponential technology like 3D printing and inexpensive sensors to collapse the capital needed to access the Moon. Coupling these technological advancements with today's news about the Rocket Lab launch contract is a huge step forward for us in opening whole new markets for space exploration."
Under the launch services contract, Rocket Lab will use its Electron rocket system to launch three missions of Moon Express' MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft.
Two launches of MX-1 have been manifested with Rocket Lab for 2017, with the third to be scheduled at a later date. Moon Express has the option of launching from Rocket Lab's private launch range here in New Zealand or from the US .
"Rocket Lab is pleased to begin working with Moon Express to launch its spacecraft and to provide support to such an ambitious mission. Moon Express has used advanced orbital mechanics to enable this mission from low-Earth orbit," said Peter Beck in a statement. "The new contract with Moon Express shows the broad market demand for Rocket Lab's affordable, high-frequency Electron launch vehicle."
