Latest Lunar Lander Challenge Stories
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Nov. 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Masten Space Systems and Space Florida announced today the signing of a Letter of Intent to explore performing demonstration launches of a Masten suborbital reusable launch vehicle from Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. "We have been looking at Florida as a launch option for some time now," stated Masten Founder and CEO Dave Masten. "We are excited to begin the process of determining if Launch Complex 36 is a good...
NASA's pioneering use of prize competitions and innovation challenges is a dramatic departure from government's traditional "business as usual." The agency's innovation and technology challenges include prizes that encourage independent teams to race to achieve bold goals -- without any upfront government funding. NASA benefits from private sector investments many times greater than the cash value of prizes, and the agency only pays for results. "NASA prize competitions...
MOJAVE, Calif., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Masten Space Systems, a leader in vertical take off, vertical landing (VTVL) rocket vehicles, announced a contract today with NASA's new Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research (CRuSR) program. The initial contract is for four flights of test payloads on Xaero, Masten's next-generation vehicle currently in assembly. "We're very excited and proud to be one of the first awardees under the CRuSR program," said David Masten, CEO. "CRuSR promises to be...
NASA announced three new Centennial Challenges Tuesday, with an overall prize purse of $5 million. NASA's Centennial Challenges are prize competitions for technological achievements by independent teams who work without government funding."NASA sponsors prize competitions because the agency believes student teams, private companies of all sizes and citizen-inventors can provide creative solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the nation," said Bobby Braun, the agency's chief...
Two California companies have teamed up to develop new private, unmanned space vehicles that NASA could send to the moon, Mars and beyond. The companies are XCOR Aerospace, specializing in rocket engines, and Masten Space Systems. According to a joint announcement this week, the companies hope to combine their areas of expertise in anticipation of NASA-sponsored unmanned lander projects. President Barack Obama's new plan for NASA involves dumping the space shuttle program and substituting it...
MOJAVE, Calif., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Masten Space Systems, a leader in vertical take off, vertical landing (VTVL) rocket vehicles, successfully demonstrated in-air engine re-light capability today at the company's test facility in Mojave, CA. Xombie, Masten's most-flown vehicle, carried out the test Wednesday and became the first VTVL vehicle to successfully re-light a rocket engine in flight. VTVL launch vehicles conserve fuel by shutting down their engines during the coast and re-entry...
MOJAVE, Calif., May 25 /PRNewswire/ -- XCOR Aerospace and Masten Space Systems, two of the leaders in the New Space sector, have announced a strategic business and technology relationship to pursue jointly the anticipated NASA sponsored unmanned lander projects. These automated lander programs are expected to serve as robotic test beds on Earth, on the lunar surface, Mars, near Earth objects and other interplanetary locales, helping NASA push the boundaries of technology and opening the...
NASA will award $1.65 million in prize money Thursday to a pair of innovative aerospace companies that successfully simulated landing a spacecraft on the moon and lifting off again.NASA's Centennial Challenges program will give a $1 million first prize to Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., and a $500,000 second prize to Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Tex., for their Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge flights. The competition was managed by the X PRIZE Foundation. The Northrop...
Just days after NASA ran a test launch of its spiffy new Ares I-X rocket at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a small but devout band of creative space geeks have been trying their hand at rocket science in the middle of the Mojave Desert.On shoestring budgets that probably wouldn't suffice to pay the salary of NASA's personnel for a day, four privately sponsored teams have been competing in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge for a chance to win $2 million in total prize money in...
MOJAVE, Calif., Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Masten Space Systems successfully qualified for first place in Level Two of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge Wednesday. Flying a brand new vehicle named XA-0.1E (nicknamed Xoie), Masten demonstrated their ability to build, debug and fly a vehicle on a very short timeline. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091030/SF02795) "To come from not flying at all last year to qualifying for level one AND level two of the LLC this year...
