Land anywhere and win
The Google Lunar X PRIZE rewards a mission that lands anywhere on the Moon, with a $30 million total purse. The X PRIZE Foundation has several primary requirements must be met to win the $20 million grand prize:
- Send eight minutes of HD video of the landing and initial views
- Beam back an email, video, data package, and sound track controlled by the Foundation
- Travel at least 500 meters, using a rover or by relaunching the spacecraft
- Send another eight minutes of HD video from the new location
- Complete the mission before Dec. 31, 2015
Astrobotic was the first competitor to announce its intention to pursue the prize.
A second prize of $5 million is available, as is a $4 million bonus pool for additional accomplishments and a $1 million diversity prize available to any competitor that stays in the race until it is won. The grand prize drops by $5 million if any government funded mission lands first and demonstrates mobility on the surface.
Google Lunar X PRIZE competitors are allowed to earn revenue by performing services and carrying payloads for government space agencies, so long as they are awarded under “commercially reasonable” competitive contracts. Noncommercial grants and gifts from governments must be limited to 10 percent of a mission’s costs for an entrant to remain eligible for the Google prize.
The Google Lunar X PRIZE represents less than 15% of the expected revenue of Astrobotic’s initial mission. The first and subsequent expeditions will be profitable regardless of the outcome of the race.
