[dropcap size=small]M[/dropcap]oon Express, an American company founded in 2010 by Indian Entrepreneur, Naveen Jain with a vision to make it possible for space enthusiasts to travel to space and exploit the unexploited minerals of the moon. The Company is planning to offer Flights to Moon at 70Lakh₹ by 2026.
Company is planning to launch its maiden rocket next year, this private mission is going to be very exorbitant and will be carried out by their MX-1 lander on the top of Rocket Lab Electron booster.
The very first mission of company will cost around $5 million but in coming decade Moon Express plans to bring it down so much that People will be able to book seat for an unbelievable amount of $10,000.
How Company plans to compensate the launch and travelling cost?
They have devised a appreciable strategy that Company will be mining the moon for the minerals that are very rare and valuable on the earth, namely materials like platinum-group metals, helium-3, earth metals and moon rocks.
All those minerals if mined in a considerable amount should definitely compensate for the fortune spent on the trip and prices may drop after few trips if mining stays as the primary goal of the company but that might effect number of seats on the plane, and if Moon Express gives preference to space tourism to mining.
CEO and one of co-founders, Naveen Jain in his recent interviews said that they will love to collaborate with Elon Musk in coming future. He said that their company will design the rover and SpaceX can do the rocket.
Till now, Team Moon express has manged to win landmark prizes in Google Lunar Xprize, one was the Landing Prize and other one was the Imaging Prize with a total prize money of $1.25 million. They company is all set to do better in Google Lunar Xprize 2017.
Nasa’s maiden lunar mission was carried out at exorbitant price of $25 billion, and if same mission was to be done again it would nearly cost around $7 million which is around 3500 times lower than first mission, and it will only go down and down in coming decade, so space tourism doesn’t seem to be a distant dream.
Company aims at making the world a better place for the future generations to come as the Naveen Jain quoted:
“Space travel is our only path forward to ensure our survival and create a limitless future for our children.”
Source for photos : Project Apollo archive on Flickr