spacetoday.net: Moon Express unveils plans for series of lunar lander missions

Moon Express unveils plans for series of lunar lander missions

Posted: Sun, Jul 16, 2017, 8:58 AM ET (1258 GMT)
Moon Express MX-1E lander (Moon Express)

Moon Express says it is still planning to launch its first commercial lunar lander mission by the end of this year. The company unveiled new details about its MX-1E spacecraft July 12, and said the first spacecraft should be completed and ready to ship to the launch site in September. The spacecraft will launch on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket, which is still in development after a partially-successful test flight in May. Moon Express said the MX-1E will be the building block for larger future missions, including a sample return mission the company says it could launch as soon as 2020.