ENABLING FUTURE EXPLORATION OF THE MOON WITH THE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE

摘要

The Google Lunar X PRIZE was launched in 2007 to incentivize commercial roboticexploration of the lunar surface. Offering a cumulative prize of $30 million US dollars tothe first privately?funded teams to land and travel 500m in an effective manner.A majority of teams that are participating in the competition are aggressively workingtoward maximizing their capability to serve future customers in academic, government,and commercial sectors, with the goal of establishing sustainable businesses andacquiring customers well beyond the winning of the Google Lunar X PRIZE prize purses.Teams have identified opportunities in providing hardware, products, and services togovernment and commercial entities, including potential exploitation of lunar resourcesand scouting missions that will help to enable future exploration endeavors of the Moonand beyond. This paper and the accompanying presentation will discuss the current statusof teams competing in the prize and capabilities for supporting future operations andexploration of the Moon.