Google withdraws $30m prize money from Team Indus's much-awaited mission to Moon

It was another major setback for space research organisations across the globe as Google Lunar XPrize has called off the much-awaited $30m contest to travel the moon.

Team Indus, a Bengaluru based start-up company with Antrix was all geared up to land a robotic spacecraft on the moon but now the competition is slated to close on March 31 without a winner.

Google Lunar XPrize was in talks with Team Indus and announced the competition back in 2007.

Google had also promised to reward the first ever private company with $30m for completing such a remarkable milestone on its journey to space.

A mouth-watering amount of $5 million with a bonus of 1.75 million was also announced for the second team for an orbit around the moon.

A stupendous amount of $3 million was also there for transmitting data from the moon after a soft landing on the lunar surface.

However, due to lack of progress and other technical glitches, Google has withdrawn the whopping prize amount from the contest.

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Moreover, four other companies including Moon Express also took part in the launch but were not ready for the same within March 31.

Previously, SpaceIL, an Israeli company signed a contract with Elon Musk’s SpaceX setting a launch deadline at 31 December 2017, but subsequently extended the mission to 31 March 2018.

Therefore, team Indus is currently in search for a new sponsor so they can continue the competition with a cash incentive.

The Bengaluru-based start-up company is backed by Ratan Tata, ISRO chairman K Kasturirangan and Infosys Ltd.’s Nandan Nilekani.

Despite the loss, Team Indus is focused to build a world class aerospace company and will accomplish its goal to land on Moon anytime soon.

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On the other hand, China is planning to land on the moon’s far side in 2018.