Golden Spike
An artist's conception shows a Golden Spike lander on the surface of the moon, with an astronaut in the background. Golden Spike estimates that it will be able to send two people to the moon and back for $1.4 billion.
By Alan Boyle
A group of space veterans and big-name backers today took the wraps off the Golden Spike Company, a commercial space venture that aims to send paying passengers to the moon and back at an estimated price of $1.4 billion or more for two.
The venture would rely on private funding, and it's not clear when the first lunar flight would be launched ??but the idea reportedly has clearance from NASA, which abandoned its own back-to-the-moon plan three and a half years ago.
Golden Spike's announcement came on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 17, the last manned moonshot. Backers of the plan, including former NASA executive Alan Stern and former Apollo flight director Gerry Griffin, were to discuss the company's strategy at a National Press Club briefing at 2 p.m. ET, but some of the details were laid out in a news release issued before the briefing.
"A key element that makes our business achievable and compelling is Golden Spike's team of nationally and internationally known experts in human and robotic spaceflight, planetary and lunar science, exploration, venture capital formation, and public outreach," Stern said in the news release.?
Stern, a planetary scientist who was NASA's associate administrator for science in 2007-2008, is Golden Spike's president and CEO, while Griffin is chairman of the board. Other board members include new-space entrepreneur Esther Dyson and Taber McCallum, co-founder and CEO of Paragon Space Development Corp. The lineup of advisers tap into a who's who of space figures, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, NASA shuttle program manager Wayne Hale, former NASA engineer Homer Hickam and Bill Richardson, who has served as U.N. ambassador, energy secretary and the governor of New Mexico.
The venture also numbers United Launch Alliance, Armadillo Aerospace, Masten Space Systems and several other space-industry players on its team for the lunar lander system.
Golden Spike takes its name from the ceremonial spike that joined the rails of the first transcontinental railroad across the United States in 1869, a milestone that opened up the Western frontier to new opportunities.
"We?re not just about America going back to the moon; we?re about American industry and American entrepreneurial spirit leading the rest of the world to an exciting era of human lunar exploration," Stern said. "It?s the 21st?century, we?re here to help countries, companies, and individuals extend their reach in space, and we think we?ll see an enthusiastic customer manifest developing.?
Golden Spike's news release said the venture would make use of existing rockets as well as commercial spacecraft that are currently under development to send expeditions to the lunar surface, with the estimated cost of a two-person lunar surface mission starting at $1.4 billion. "This price point enables human lunar expeditions at similar cost as what some national space programs are already spending on robotic science at the moon," the company said.
The company said it has been working on its mission architecture for two years, and the plan would be refined further in cooperation with its aerospace partners. It plans to sponsor an international conference next year to focus on the science that can be done on Golden Spike lunar missions.
"We could not be able to do this without the many breakthroughs NASA made in inventing Apollo, the shuttle, the International Space Station, and its recent efforts to foster commercial spaceflight," Griffin was quoted as saying. "Building on those achievements, the Golden Spike Company is ready to enable a global wave of explorers to the lunar frontier."
Golden Spike said market studies indicated that 15 to 20 expeditions could be undertaken in the decade after the first landing. However, no time frame was given for that landing. That's just one of the gaps in Golden Spike's plan. Among the other questions yet to be answered: How will Golden Spike fund its operations during the buildup to the first flight? Can private-sector efforts produce a workable lunar launch and landing system at a cost far less than the $100 billion that NASA said it would cost in 2005? Are Golden Spike's assumptions about the demand for lunar missions correct, even if the price point is in its estimated range of $1.4 billion and up? And what relationships would Golden Spike be able to forge with NASA and international space efforts??
Stay tuned ... and feel free to weigh in with your thoughts in the comment space below.
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