U.S. Government Approves Plan For Moon Express to Become First Private Company To Venture Beyond Earth’s Orbit, Moon Express
“The U.S. Government has made a historic ruling to allow the first private enterprise, Moon Express, Inc. (MoonEx), permission to travel beyond Earth’s orbit and land on the Moon in 2017. This breakthrough U.S. policy decision provides authorization to Moon Express for a maiden flight of its robotic spacecraft onto the Moon’s surface, beginning a new era of ongoing commercial lunar exploration and discovery, unlocking the immense potential of the Moon’s valuable resources. Moon Express received the green light for pursuing its 2017 lunar mission following in depth consultations with the FAA, the White House, the State Department, NASA and other federal agencies.”
Fact Sheet – Moon Express Payload Review Determination, FAA
“Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty requires, in relevant part, that “The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty.” The FAA consulted with the Department of State as to the relevant portions of the Treaty and considered comments from the Department as part of the payload determination.”

Biologist, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Biologist and Payload integrator, Editor of NASAWatch.com and Astrobiology.com, Lapsed climber, Explorer, Synaesthete, Former Challenger Center board member...

9 replies on “Moon Express Gets FAA OK To Land On The Moon”

    1. No, folks might confuse it with NASA. Federal Aerospace Administration has a better ring to it 🙂

  2. What exactly does MoonEx need permission for? The launch? Actually landing on the moon? Prospecting?

    1. They don’t exactly need permission. But the US signed the Outer Space Treaty. One provision is that the countries involved will make sure their citizens do not violate the term of the treaty. That includes activities on the Moon. So the US government has an obligation to check, and verify that MoonEx will not be violating that treaty. They do that by requiring an application to the FAA, and the FAA approving it.

  3. Can’t help but think of Kim Robinson’s wondrous “Mars” series, in which the Martians had a bit of a problem with their earthly overlords: the Outer Space Treaty is, in essence, an attempt by Earth to extend authority throughout the solar system, and to promulgate our parochial penchant for dividing pieces of the planet into warring kingdoms for one reason or another.

    I won’t be alive when this comes to be a problem.

    1. Unless that guy in Hawthorne decides to be the Warlord of Barsoom after he retires there in about 16 years.

  4. The is a great victory in terms of moving space commerce forward. Now that one firm has a license others will follow, not only for the Moon but also for Mars. This is probably equal to Blue Origins’s success in terms of the most important space commerce event this year. Congratulations to the Moon Express Team.

  5. After reading the Fact Sheet three points of interest emerge. First they dated the approval of the license to July 20, 2016 which shows someone has a sense of history. Second, it is transferable to another launch vehicle with only the launch vehicle needing to be reviewed. And third they make an appeal for Congress to follow up on the Space Competitiveness Act of 2015 and expand their authority under that legislation. All of these elements are good.

    1. Indeed the Federal regulatory community has been responsive and creative across the board, as far as I can see, far from the oft-quoted image of government holding back progress.

Comments are closed.