spacetoday.net: Google Lunar X Prize ends without winner

Posted: Sun, Jan 28, 2018, 10:38 AM ET (1538 GMT)
SpaceIL lander concept, Oct 2015 (SpaceIL)

The organization running the Google Lunar X Prize said Tuesday none of the remaining teams in the competition would launch before the prize's March 31 deadline. The X Prize Foundation said that a combination of financial, technical and regulatory problems would keep any of the teams from winning the prize, with no plans by prize sponsor Google to extend the deadline again. The competition offered a $20 million grand prize for the first privately developed spacecraft to land on the moon, travel at least 500 meters, and return video and other data. The X Prize Foundation said it was considering other ways to keep the competition alive, either through a new prize sponsor or "a non-cash competition" where the foundation promotes the teams but no longer offers a prize purse.