A few years ago, Google launched its Lunar Xprize contest with several millions of dollars. The objective? Support startups, groups of researchers and engineers and any company or organization wishing to develop a space project with the aim of going to the Moon.
Today, we know the 5 finalists who will be supported by Google in their project: SpaceIL, a non-profit association based in Israel, Moon Express, an American company which targets the mining of the Moon, Synergy Moon, a a company that aims to develop more accessible space travel, Team Indus, a company from India and Hakuta from Japan, itself led by a space company called iSpace.
According to the plans, Google has already confirmed the reservations for places for lunar probes or modules on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as well as with an Indian launcher. Moon Express and Synergy Moon have turned to Rocket Lab USA and Interorbital Systems.
According to the terms of the competition, teams can only remain in the competition if they have launched before December 31, 2017. The competition aims to reward the company that will be able to send a rover or a probe to the Moon . The device must be able to move more than 500 meters and send back HD video as well as photos. The grand prize of the contest is set at $ 20 million, Google having already distributed several million dollars at each stage of the contest to ensure the support of the most promising projects.
