TransOrbital signs launch contract for commercial lunar mission
Posted: Thu, Nov 28, 2002, 12:28 PM ET (1728 GMT)
TransOrbital, a California company developing the first commercial lunar mission, announced this week that it has signed a launch contract with Russian company Kosmotras. The contract, valued at $20 million, covers both the launch of a test payload on a Dnepr rocket — a converted SS-18 ICBM — next month as well as the launch of the TrailBlazer spacecraft next October, also on a Dnepr. TrailBlazer will carry a high-resolution camera to photograph the lunar surface, as well as cargo ranging from business cards to cremated remains. The spacecraft will eventually crash on the lunar surface after completing the imaging part of its mission. Total cost of TrailBlazer is estimated to be $40 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
TransOrbital, a California company developing the first commercial lunar mission, announced this week that it has signed a launch contract with Russian company Kosmotras. The contract, valued at $20 million, covers both the launch of a test payload on a Dnepr rocket — a converted SS-18 ICBM — next month as well as the launch of the TrailBlazer spacecraft next October, also on a Dnepr. TrailBlazer will carry a high-resolution camera to photograph the lunar surface, as well as cargo ranging from business cards to cremated remains. The spacecraft will eventually crash on the lunar surface after completing the imaging part of its mission. Total cost of TrailBlazer is estimated to be $40 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Friday, May 15
‘Space is hard’: Blue Origin’s satellite miss and the race to catch SpaceX
Seattle Times — 6:52 am ET (1052 GMT) ASCEND 2026 Puts “Need for Speed” at the Center of National Security Space
Aerospace America — 6:51 am ET (1051 GMT) TransAstra and U.S. Air Force Academy Sign Agreement to Advance Asteroid Mining for Dynamic Space Operations
AccessWire — 6:51 am ET (1051 GMT) U.S. Space Force reorganizes, pauses commercial accelerator program
Aerospace America — 6:50 am ET (1050 GMT) Elon Musk’s iron grip on SpaceX alarms investors
The Daily Telegraph — 6:48 am ET (1048 GMT) |
