A private company is set to launch a space exploration to the Moon; the only thing that it needs is the approval from the U.S. Regulators. If permitted by the U.S. Federal officials, the deemed space exploration project will send a 20-pound package to the largest satellite that orbits the Earth.
The approval of the exploration project would establish vital diplomatic and legal precedents and would guarantee that private companies space exploration establishments.
Details of the supposed exploration project were received by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as told by people who are familiar with the space project. According to the report, the U.S. officials' approval will be a big part in making history in sending the first private space exploration with a mission of going beyond Earth's orbit.
The Moon Express Company, an early stage private company focused in providing robotic lunar exploration, urged the federal government in April 2014 to grant it approval for the space exploration project. According to the WSJ, the company's bid for approval would not be acquired until the second half of year 2017. Another reason for this is that the Moon Express still faces technical challenges significant to the project.
Based on a report by International Business Times, the decision of the U.S. Regulators would create important diplomatic and legal precedents. This will also ensure that international space treaties will be respected by private companies involved in space exploration. The decision will also lead to other space exploration assignment like tracking space debris and mining of asteroids.
Moon Express founder and CEO Bob Richards said, "We've been a regulatory pathfinder out of necessity," because up to now "only governments have undertaken space missions beyond Earth orbit."
According to the disclosure forms stated by the Senate, Moon Express has spent $140,000 since it started asking the president's office and congress to approve the said project. The senate also stated that in the past six months, Moon Express had spent another $60,000 in its bid for approval.
If approved, the mission could provide big profit for the private Moon Express, as reported by Phys.org. The company will not only be the first in landing a space rover on the Earth's orbiting satellite but it will also outshine 15 other space exploration companies and win the prize of $20 million for the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition. The requirement of the said space competition is to become the first space exploration company to land a private rover on the Moon, travel 500 meters and transmit images and videos in high definition back to Earth.
