Robohub.org
 

GLXP Update: Penn State Lunar Lions now in #3 spot


by
07 January 2014



share this:

Google_Lunar_X_PrizeWhat are they putting in the water in the Keystone state?  It turns out that Penn State Lunar Lions team announced plans to get launched to the moon as well.  They have made a deposit for a ride in the fourth quarter of 2015 through Team Phoenicia LLC.

The Lunar Lions from Penn State are the only university team that is competing.  Astrobotic is a spin out from Carnegie Mellon, just a few hours down the road from State College in Pittsburgh.

The story of the Lunar Lions ride is actually quite interesting and shows how the Google Lunar X Prize is making humanity’s future in space a reality.  Team Phoenicia was originally a GLXP competitor.  However, in looking around at launch services, the team discovered that there was excess rocket payload capacity that was hard to purchase: surplus capacity on flights scheduled for other customers.

Team Phoenicia dropped out of the GLXP and now runs a business breaking up the payload capacity of rockets. Since the Lunar Lions don’t need all the spare payload capacity, some is going to be sold to other customers who want a ride to orbit.  Some of this capacity will be to low Earth orbit, but at least two cubesats will also make the ride to lunar orbit.

When the GLXP says we are going back to the moon for good they are serious.  We are going back with an armada!

Here is the new GLXP leader board:

GLXP-Leader-Board2

 

Though I’m a bit late in reporting this, I believe that the leader board above now accurately reflects the launch dates that have been announced as of the end of 2013. Once again, please note that the the leader board does not yet take into account the certainty of the launch date or the likelihood of a team succeeding.

More team disclosures would give us a better picture of how things are heating up!

 



tags: , ,


Robert Morris is founder and CEO of the aerial imaging start-up TerrAvion. He is also the author of the blog robocosmist.com
Robert Morris is founder and CEO of the aerial imaging start-up TerrAvion. He is also the author of the blog robocosmist.com





Related posts :



Robot Talk Episode 119 – Robotics for small manufacturers, with Will Kinghorn

  02 May 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Will Kinghorn from Made Smarter about how to increase adoption of new tech by small manufacturers.

Multi-agent path finding in continuous environments

  01 May 2025
How can a group of agents minimise their journey length whilst avoiding collisions?

Interview with Yuki Mitsufuji: Improving AI image generation

  29 Apr 2025
Find out about two pieces of research tackling different aspects of image generation.

Robot Talk Episode 118 – Soft robotics and electronic skin, with Miranda Lowther

  25 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Miranda Lowther from the University of Bristol about soft, sensitive electronic skin for prosthetic limbs.

Interview with Amina Mević: Machine learning applied to semiconductor manufacturing

  17 Apr 2025
Find out how Amina is using machine learning to develop an explainable multi-output virtual metrology system.

Robot Talk Episode 117 – Robots in orbit, with Jeremy Hadall

  11 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Jeremy Hadall from the Satellite Applications Catapult about robotic systems for in-orbit servicing, assembly, and manufacturing.

Robot Talk Episode 116 – Evolved behaviour for robot teams, with Tanja Kaiser

  04 Apr 2025
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Tanja Katharina Kaiser from the University of Technology Nuremberg about how applying evolutionary principles can help robot teams make better decisions.

AI can be a powerful tool for scientists. But it can also fuel research misconduct

  31 Mar 2025
While AI is allowing scientists to make technological breakthroughs, there’s also a darker side to the use of AI in science: scientific misconduct is on the rise.



 

Robohub is supported by:




Would you like to learn how to tell impactful stories about your robot or AI system?


scicomm
training the next generation of science communicators in robotics & AI


©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence


 












©2025.05 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence