Google Lunar X Prize field narrowed to five
From SpaceNews
SEATTLE — The X Prize Foundation announced Jan. 24 that five of the 16 teams in the Google Lunar X Prize competition have verified launch contracts and can continue in the $20 million race to the moon.Read more here: http://spacenews.com/google-lunar-x-prize-field-narrowed-to-five/The announcement, made in a statement by the foundation that runs the Google-backed competition, leaves on the sidelines a sixth team, PT Scientists, who had announced a launch contract in November but were unable to get the contract verified.
The prize rules required teams to have a launch contract in place, and verified by the foundation, by the end of 2016 in order to remain in the competition. Those teams with such contract have until the end of 2017 to launch their missions to land on the moon, travel at least 500 meters across the lunar surface, and return videos and other data.
One change in the rules included in the announcement was to adjust the Dec. 31 deadline this year from the completion of the mission to its launch, allowing a team to launch before the end of the year but not complete all the requirements to win the prize until 2018. At least one competitor, TeamIndus, had planned a launch in late December that would have made it impossible to win the prize without the change.
The five teams allowed to remain in the competition all had contracts the X Prize Foundation had previously announced had been verified. SpaceIL and Moon Express had their contracts verified in 2015, and Synergy Moon became the third in August 2016. The foundation verified TeamIndus’ launch contract Dec. 1, and verified an agreement by Team Hakuto Dec. 20 to fly that team’s rover on the TeamIndus lander.
One other team announced a launch contract in the final weeks of 2016. PT Scientists said Nov. 29 it had a contract to fly its lander as a secondary payload, likely on a SpaceX Falcon 9, through a deal arranged by Spaceflight Industries. The team, as of late December, was still awaiting a decision from the X Prize Foundation about the status of its contract.
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