How the first private company landing on the moon can propel humanity forward

Since 1966, only three nations have landed spacecraft on the moon. Earlier this month, a private company from Florida known as Moon Express announced it was given official permission to join the exclusive club. Not only is this the first time a planned lunar mission will be completed by a private company, but the first time a private company will leave Earth’s orbit. 

Permission to land on the moon is the private company's start of its long-term goal to explore and develop lunar resources. Image source: Moon Express.

Founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs Dr. Bob Richards, Dr. Barney Pell, and Naveen Jain, Moon Express is one of a number of commercial outfits seeking to begin operating in space. Until now, all commercial space companies have been confined to operating within Earth’s orbit, which has become commonplace, with SpaceX providing taxi-like services to and from the International Space Station (ISS).

According to Moon Express, permission to land on the moon is the start of its long-term goal to explore and develop lunar resources. “The Moon Express 2017 mission approval is a landmark decision by the U.S. government and a pathfinder for private sector commercial missions beyond the Earth's orbit,” said co-founder and CEO of Moon Express, Bob Richards. “We are now free to set sail as explorers to Earth's eighth continent, the moon, seeking new knowledge and resources to expand Earth's economic sphere for the benefit of all humanity.”

By unlocking the potential of the moon’s resources, Moon Express is hoping it can contribute to the advancement of technology, science, research, and development. The company is planning to offer lunar transportation and other services for government and commercial customers, along with developing “commercial ventures that expand Earth’s economic sphere.” It will do this using its robotic spacecraft, which is designed to reduce the cost of space exploration.

“In the immediate future, we envision bringing precious resources, metals, and moon rocks back to Earth,” said Moon Express co-founder and chairman, Naveen Jain. “In 15 years, the moon will be an important part of Earth's economy, and potentially our second home. Imagine that.”

The U.S. government will be responsible for the Moon Express mission and must have in place adequate means by which it can grant permission to supervise the operations of the mission. This is of particular importance while a payload is still within Earth's orbit and, therefore, at a risk of falling back to Earth unexpectedly.

In the absence of a formal procedure, the Moon Express application, which was submitted to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on April 8^th , is said to have been subject to “exhaustive interagency consultations and deliberations” among the FAA itself, the State Department, NASA and the White House, as well as other federal agencies.

Authorization for the mission was awarded on July 20^th , 2016.

Source: Moon Express