Google launched the Lunar X Prize

X Prize Foundation has announced that the first 10 teams have entered the Google Lunar X Prize. Google Lunar X Prize requires landing a privately funded robotic spacecraft on the moon, exploring the terrain for at least 500 meters and transmitting results of the trip back to Earth. The first prize is $20 million; the second prize is $5 million and $5 million bonuses.

Sergey Brin said that when he and Elon Musk conceived of the contest, they thought that landing a rover on the moon 40 years after NASA's last mission would cost in the tens of millions to hundreds of millions of dollars.

Burt Rutan who won the Ansari X Prize four years ago is an aspirant to the Google Lunar X Prize and hopes to make money by developing a transport system for the moon.

Teams:

Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) from Romania, participate with the craft “European Lunar Explorer.” They were a contender in the Ansari X PRIZE.

Astrobotic team from Carnegie Mellon University and Raytheon. They participate with“Artemis Lander” and “Red Rover.”

Chandah founded by Adil Jafry. The spacecraft will be named “Shehrezade.”

FREDNET: a multi-national team.

LunaTrex: a team of company’s universities and individuals. The spacecraft will be named “Tumbleweed.”

Micro-Space from Colorado. Micro-Space has been a competitor in the Ansari X PRIZE. The spacecraft will be named “Human Lunar Lander”.

Odyssey Moon is a private commercial lunar enterprise based in the Isle of Man. The spacecraft will be named “MoonOne (M-1).”

Quantum3 a US based team led by Paul Carliner. The spacecraft will be named “Moondancer”.

Southern California Selene Group. The spacecraft will be named “Spirit of Southern California”.

Team Italia from Italy, Team Italia is gathers several universities.