PITTSBURGH and TOKYO, Oct. 27, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Astrobotic Technology, Inc. announced today that it will carry a rover for Team AngelicvM, the Google Lunar XPRIZE team from Chile, to the surface of the Moon on Astrobotic's first lunar mission. Team AngelicvM joins Team HAKUTO, the Japanese Google Lunar XPRIZE team, which announced a partnership with Astrobotic earlier this year. Teams HAKUTO and AngelicvM, along with Team Astrobotic, will launch from Earth, fly together to the surface of the Moon, and deploy from Astrobotic's lander. The teams will then race 500 meters across the Moon's surface to send high-definition images and video back to Earth in pursuit of the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE Grand Prize. The signing of Team AngelicvM adds South America to payloads from North America, Europe and Asia, expanding the unique co-opetition (cooperative competition) model spurred by the Google Lunar XPRIZE across the globe.
Team AngelicvM entered into the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition to send a rover to the surface of the Moon to project images that carries a message of faith, hope, peace and unity to the world. Their rover Uni (for "unity") will explore the surface of the Moon and send images and video back to Earth. Team AngelicvM hopes to create awareness of the problems that we face as a global community, and encourage the new generations to get involved and work together to make a difference. Team AnglicvM intends to use the prize money to support their cause of exploration, hope, and unity across the globe.
Astrobotic wants to make the Moon accessible to the world. Its current manifest showcases the growing, international demand from companies, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals looking to the Moon as the next step in the human expansion to space and a critical resource for the long-term advancement of science, engineering, and life of Earth.
"All of the teams are out to make history – we're doing something that has not been done before. While we all want to win the Prize, I think we also recognize that – no matter which team banks the check – the real winner is all of us," says John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic. "Team AngelicvM shares our vision of uniting and inspiring individuals to look to the Moon as the next great destination for exploration and discovery. We are honored to have great partners to join us on this historic journey that will pioneer a new era of lunar exploration for future generations."
"With the challenges facing our world today, it is comforting and humbling to see how a group of dreamers from all these different areas of the planet are joining forces to reach the moon together forgetting about cultural, physical and geographical differences, in order to reach their dreams, and show the world that there is still hope in humanity if we work together towards a common goal," says Mauricio Guerrero, the CEO of Team AngelicvM.
Astrobotic first mission also will carry the first payload in history from Latin America, which is under development with Agencia Espacial Mexicana (AEM). Astrobotic intends to launch from Cape Canaveral no earlier than late 2017.
About Astrobotic Technology:
Astrobotic Technology Inc. is a lunar logistics company that delivers payloads to the Moon for companies, governments, universities, non-profits, and individuals. The company's spacecraft accommodates multiple customers on a single flight, offering flexibility at an industry-defining low price. Astrobotic is an official partner with NASA through the Lunar CATALYST program. Astrobotic has 21 prior and ongoing NASA contracts, strong commercial partnerships, 9 contracts and dozens of customer negotiations for upcoming missions. With its partner Carnegie Mellon University, Astrobotic is pursuing the Google Lunar XPRIZE. Astrobotic was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.
About Team AngelicvM:
In 2007 Gerardo Rocha Haardt, President of Inversiones Angelicvm was introduced to the Google Lunar XPrize (GLXP) competition. He saw this contest as a great opportunity to explore the private aerospace industry and discover alternative options for development for humanity, since literally the "Sky is the Limit". He decided to create a team to enter the completion and in 2010, Team Angelicvm officially joined GLXP. The main purpose of Team Angelicvm is to build a Rover that would land on the surface on the Moon, comply with the competition requirements, and broadcast back to Earth a high definition music video that carries message of "Faith, Hope, Peace and Unity" to the World. It is our hope that this message will reach across the Globe and impact all of humanity for the better. We want to create awareness of the problems that we face as a global community and encourage the new generations to get involved and work together to make a difference.