Category Archives: NewSpace

Friday / 24 July 2015

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16 GLXP Teams Have <6 Months To Confirm Launch, Extend Competition

GLXP July 2015

 One Firm Launch Provider Contract, Designating Launch Window / Date, Required By 31 Dec 2015 To Continue US$20M Moon Challenge; Rideshare Contract Between Astrobotic & Hakuto Confirmed For TBD SpaceX Launch Mid-2016, Team Indus Looking Toward ISRO For Subsidized Launch, Synergy Moon Counting On Interorbital Neptune Rocket, SpaceMETA Has MoU With Alcantor Cyclone Space, Barcelona Moon Working With China Great Wall Industry, Penn State Lunar Lion Launch Reservation Fee Given To Spaceflight Inc / Sherpa Craft

Credit: GLXP, SpaceX, GLXP Teams

Friday / 17 July 2015

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Space Week, Moon Landing Celebrations Highlight This Weekend

Space Week Kick Off

Moonworker Buzz Aldrin ShareSpace Foundation Launch Gala To Be Hosted By John Travolta 18 July At Kennedy Space Center FL – Launch Site Of Human Moon Missions; Moon Day 2015 Sponsored By Frontiers Of Flight Museum, Moon Society, NSS Of North Texas Will Feature Space Traveler Anousheh Ansari, Moon Academy Classes, Lunar Lectures; USS Hornet Museum In Alameda CA Holding Apollo Splashdown Anniversary Celebration; National Museum Of The U.S. Air Force Commemorating Apollo Missions In Dayton OH 

Credit: NASA, ShareSpace Foundation, Frontiers of Flight Museum, Moon Society, NSS of North Texas, USS Hornet Museum

Weekend Holiday Edition
Friday-Monday / 3-6 July 2015

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Moon South Pole Landers 2017-19
Point To 2020s Human Lunar Decade

July 4 Edition, Moon South Pole

International Fleet Of South Pole Lunar Landers Developing From India (Chandrayaan-2, 2017), China (Chang’e-4 & -5, 2017), Japan (SLIM, 2019), Russia (Luna-25, 2019), Korea (2020), As Well As Independent Enterprises Moon Express, ILOA, Canadensys, Golden Spike Company & Shackleton Energy Company; American Flags On Moon Commemorated 4 July As Pioneering Individuals Look Forward To Earth / International Flags & Multi World Species Endeavors

Credit: NASA, JAXA, CNSA, IIT-Kanpur, ISRO, ILOA, ME

Tuesday / 16 June 2015

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Propulsion Expert Tim Pickens Expects

GLXP Launches 2017, 2018

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Tim Pickens Of Huntsville, Alabama, Chief Propulsion Engineer For Moon Express States That ME Is Operating In Cape Canaveral To Centralize Its Developments; While Pickens Mentions No Google Lunar X Prize Team Will Launch This Year, 2017 Or 2018 Is Expected; Pickens Currently Working On Propulsion System For Virgin Galactic SpaceShip Two; When Asked To Support Other Projects, Pickens Criteria Is That Involvement Has To Be Fun

Credit:  Moon Express, Tim Pickens, GLXP, NASA

Thursday / 11 June 2015

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Mexico Space Agency (AEM) To Send Payload On Astrobotic Lunar Lander

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Mexico Seeks To Be First Latin America Country To Land / Operate Payload On Moon, Via Astrobotic GLXP Mission NET 2016; AEM Seeking Payload Proposals From Mexico Scientists, Selection In 4th Quarter 2015; Contract Moves Astrobotic 1 Step Closer To Securing Launch By End 2015 GLXP Deadline; Company Already Has Payload Contracts With GLXP Team Hakuto, 2 Private Companies, NASA, MoonMail Option For Average Citizens, Negotiating With 4 Other Teams, And Seeking Contracts From Several Other Of 50 Smaller Space Agencies

Image Credit: AEM, Astrobotic

Wednesday / 10 June 2015

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USA Advancing ‘NextSTEP’
Lunar Mission Concepts

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Cislunar Space To Be Center Of NASA Activity In 2020s As Country / Agency Develop Technologies / Experience To Conduct Long-Duration, Deep Space Missions; Companies Such As Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Bigelow Advancing Cislunar Habitat Concepts Under NASA NextSTEP Awards; Plans Incorporating Likelihood Of Cooperation From International & Commercial Partners Which May Lead To Lunar Surface Missions / Lunar Base Buildout; Sense Of Urgency To Define / Plan These Missions Growing As SLS / Orion Era Fast Approaching

Image Credit: Lockheed Martin, Bigelow Aerospace

Thursday / 28 May 2015

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GLXP Planning To Extend Deadline To 2017

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XPRIZE & Google Providing Teams Competing For US$30M GLXP Extra Time To Secure Launch; At Least 1 Team Must Confirm Launch Contract By Dec 2015 For Extension To Go Into Effect; If Prize Extended, All Other Teams Will Have Until End Of 2016 To Confirm Launch Contract To Continue In Competition; Deadline For Landing On Moon & Completing Objectives Is End 2017

Image Credit: GLXP

Wednesday / 27 May 2015

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Lunar Initiatives Newsletter LunarCube Mission Opportunities, Upcoming Events

LunarInitiatives

Deep Space CubeSat Missions – Including LunarCubes – Is One Of The Fastest-Growing Elements In Space Exploration, The Lunar Initiatives / Workshops Continue To Organize Events To Support The Growth Of This Field; Its Latest Newsletter Includes Updates Of Upcoming LunarCubes Workshop On 6-9 Oct In San Jose CA, The 2nd International Workshop On Scientific Opportunities In Cislunar Space On 8 Nov, & News From Recent LSA 5 Workshop

Image Credit: lunar-cubes.com, Flexure Engineering

Thursday / 14 May 2015

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Space Law Issues Raised As Asteroid & Lunar Mining Initiatives Advance

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Planetary Resources Launches 1st Of 2 Planned 2015 Asteroid Mining Demonstration Spacecraft Missions; Space Mining Experts Meeting In Canada Note Upcoming NASA Resource Prospecting Missions To Lunar Poles, Existing Canada & ESA Rovers That Could Be Used For Lunar Missions In Search Of Water-Ice; Experts Posit That Commercial Space Mining Is Likely Decades Away, Though Many Assert That A Mechanism For Regulating Space Mining / Addressing Property Rights Claims Needs To Be Established ASAP Before Commercial Asteroid & Lunar Missions Commence

Image Credit: Planetary Resources, NASA

Tuesday / 12 May 2015

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Canada Event Explores Extraction, Utilization, Commercialization Of Lunar Resources

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6th Annual Planetary & Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium / Space Resources Roundtable Continues Through Wednesday 13 May In Montreal, Canada; Event Intended To Promote Closer Relationship Between Space & Mining Sectors; Featured Speakers Today Include (L-R) NASA JSC ISRU Chief Engineer Jerry Sanders, John Hamilton Of PISCES; John Gruener Of NASA JSC Will Outline An International Lunar Polar Volatiles Strategy; Alex Ellery Of Carleton University Will Detail How ISRU & 3D Printing Can Facilitate A Self-Replicating Infrastructure On Moon

Image Credit: NASA, PISCES, Carleton University