Under the agreement, Rocket Lab will loft three of Moon Express’s robotic MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft with its Electron vehicle, which is yet to become operational.
Lunar startup Moon Express has signed a three-mission launch contract with nascent launch services provider Rocket Lab to take its spacecraft to low Earth orbit, from where they will propel themselves to the Moon.
Under the agreement, Rocket Lab will loft three of Moon Express’s robotic MX-1 lunar lander spacecraft with its Electron vehicle, which is yet to become operational. A test launch of Electron is planned for this year and Rocket Lab hopes to begin commercial operations in 2016.
Two launches are in Rocket Lab’s manifest for 2017 and the third will be scheduled for a later date. The launch services firm markets missions to low Earth orbit at a price of US$4.9m per launch.
Founded in 2010, space exploration firm Moon Express aims to dramatically cut the cost of taking scientific and commercial payloads to the Moon using 3D printing and inexpensive sensors.
The MX-1, which is the size of a large coffee table, has a hydrogen peroxide-powered engine which will allow it to take payloads to the Moon.
The terms of the contract give Moon Express the option to lift off from either Rocket Lab’s private space pad in New Zealand, or using a site in the US. Rocket Lab unveiled plans to build and operate an orbital launch site in the Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island in July. Previously used by NASA, the site on Kaitorete Spit is suitable for missions to a wide range of inclinations, from sun-synchronous through to 45 degrees.​
Rocket Lab is headquartered in the US and was founded by New Zealander Peter Beck.
“The new contract with Moon Express shows the broad market demand for Rocket Lab’s affordable, high-frequency Electron launch vehicle,” Beck said.
Rocket Lab one day hopes to be able to launch 100 of its liquid-fuelled rockets per year. It boasts that it will be able to deploy a satellite to a commercial orbit with less fuel than a Boeing 737 will use between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
In March, the company announced it had secured a second round of financing to fund Electron through to commercial flights from New Zealand in 2016.
US venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners led the round and Lockheed Martin joined as a strategic investor. Existing investors Khosla Ventures – which led its Series A in 2013 – and K1W1 also participated.
At the time, Beck said the deal will provide most of the funding the group need through to commercial flights in 2016, although he declined to disclose the size of the investments.
