In one small step for space business, Moon Express has won US regulatory approval -- under the 104-nation Outer Space Treaty -- to become the first ever private company to fly to the Moon.
At the heart of the company’s plans is a single-stage spacecraft, similar in size and shape to the R2-D2 droid from Star Wars, but a little bigger.
Launched from New Zealand, as the payload on Rocket Lab’s Electron launcher, the MX-1’s Peco rocket engine uses highly refined kerosene fuel (RP-1) which is oxidised using hydrogen peroxide.
The Peco engine will serve as the common core for all the planned MX vehicles, including the MX-9 which will launch in 2020 to collect -- and return to Earth -- the first-ever privately-owned lunar samples.
MX-9 will search in areas rich in ancient volcanic deposits for evidence of water. Nearly a decade ago, tiny amounts of water, just 0.05% water by weight, were detected in volcanic glass beads brought back from the surface of the Moon by Apollo 15 and 17.
Recent data from India’s Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter suggests that the pyroclastic flows of ancient lava that left those beads could provide a source of water to support a lunar base.
Monday, March 24, 2025
