New Delhi (Sputnik) — India's first privately funded lunar mission TeamIndus has got an extension of deadline for launching its moon rover for the $30 million Google Lunar Xprize (GLXP).
TeamIndus and its global rivals now have to complete their missions by March 31, 2018 irrespective of the launch date. Earlier, GLXP organizers had fixed the launch date as December 31, 2017.
"The launch date is not a factor anymore. The teams will have to complete their missions by March 31, 2018," read a GLXP statement.
TeamIndus' will launch the rover with the help of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)'s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). The mission was set to begin on 28 December 2017, but the latest extension gives it more time to run tests.
"While we have been working hard on an aggressive timeline, the change of date allows us to continue work with that fervor to make sure that the mission makes history," The Hindu quoted Rahul Narayan, its board member and Fleet Commander as saying.
Apart from the extension of launch deadline, the organizers have also announced a few more prizes for runners up.
TeamIndus is a 100-person engineering team, including 20 retired scientists of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
The main objective of the GLXP is to develop low-cost methods of robotic space exploration. It has $30 million as prize money for the team that manages to soft-land their spacecraft on the moon, move at least 500 meters and transmit high-definition photos and video back to earth.
In addition to TeamIndus, other finalist teams who each have a verified launch contracts are Israel's SpaceIL, USA's Moon Express, Japan's HAKUTO and an international team Synergy Moon.
