The first private company is about to land the Moon

Moon Express, the first private company licensed to fly to the Moon, has raised enough funds for their first trip to the Moon.

The California-based startup has raised $ 45 million from private and joint venture funds, including Founders, which has invested in SpaceX, Airbnb and Spotify.

Moon Express called for investment to participate in Google's Lunar XPRIZE competition with the award included: The first prize of $ 30 million will be given to the first company to land, move 500 meters on the surface of the Moon and then transmit the image. photos and a high definition video about Earth. The company received the second prize of US $ 5 million.

Moon Express wants to explore the Moon to learn about this celestial resource.

This startup project is planning to launch the MX-1E to the Moon later this year. If successful, Moon Express will become the first private company, and the fourth, for the Moon to land.

Moon Express wants to explore the Moon to learn about this celestial resource. They call it the "eighth continent, a huge reservoir of resources" that could benefit the Earth.

"In the near future, we are ambitious to bring precious, metallic resources from the Moon back to Earth," said the president and co-founder of the company, Naveen Jain.

To fulfill their dream, Moon Express collaborated with Rocket Lab USA, and intends to use its Electron rocket to push the MX-1E to the Moon. Rocket Lab USA has not undergone any rocket launcher tests yet, expected to launch its first missile later this month.

The rivals of Moon Express in Google's Lunar XPRIZE competition also include Indus, the only Indian group involved. Indus plans to launch a spacecraft in the Indian Space Research Organization's missile program in December 2017.