WASHINGTON, D.C.—A private spaceflight company that has been operating in secret for two years announced yesterday an ambitious plan to launch manned missions to the moon.

The company, named Golden Spike after the ceremonial railway spike that marked the completion of the first transcontinental railway, would send two-person crews to the lunar surface and back at a cost of $750 million per passenger. If the plan comes to fruition, the first astronauts to step out of a Golden Spike lander could be the first human beings to set foot on the moon since the final Apollo mission in 1972.

Golden Spike's plans rank among the most audacious privately funded space exploration missions ever proposed. The company said its first launch would cost $7 billion to $8 billion but that subsequent trips would be much cheaper, at roughly $1.5 billion. That is less than many robotic missions launched by national space agencies, Alan Stern, president and CEO of the new company, said during a press conference here. "We estimate that there are 15 to 20, or more, expeditions of this type out there," involving nations interested in lunar science but lacking the capability to send astronauts, he said. Stern, who is also the former head of NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the principal investigator of the New Horizons robotic mission now en route to Pluto, said he believed tourists and commercial businesses (such as mining companies) would also be potential customers.

Golden Spike intends to have the first customers on the moon by 2020, a plan that hinges on the use of currently existing (or "soon to be existing") launch vehicles, spacecraft and technologies.

So far, though, the plan remains in the realm of the hypothetical. Golden Spike needs to raise $8 billion before its first rocket lifts off. To fill the company coffers, the firm expects to draw on ticket presales as well as on marketing and advertising. Given the international flavor expected of the missions, "we expect these expeditions to be the equivalent of the Olympics," Stern said. "Think of the advertising time; the naming rights—it's a very important part of our business." Stern would not release details on the company's financials, but acknowledged that "we need to sell a bunch" of seats. "If we sell three or four, we're completely upside down."

Gerry Griffin, chair of the Golden Spike board and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, concurred. "I don't think there are any technological issues," Griffin said. "It's going to be financial."

Nevertheless, returning to the moon has so far proved both expensive and difficult. Under former Pres. George W. Bush, NASA had planned to put astronauts back on the moon by 2020 as part of the Constellation Program. But budget and technology-development issues have left Constellation dead in the water. And NASA's next-generation Space Launch System is nowhere near operational.

Consequently, no launch vehicle today stands ready to take people to the moon and back, although the Falcon Heavy rocket built by private spaceflight firm SpaceX, which is currently in testing, may fill the void. Golden Spike wrote a concept paper that has been accepted for publication in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics's Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets that discussed using the Falcon Heavy in the context of a moon mission, but Stern cautioned that no official announcement has been made as to which launch vehicle the new company will use.

6 Comments

1. 1. BrucePerens 01:13 PM 12/7/12

   The business plan for this endeavor is that they're going to take people to the moon, by buying a spaceship. That's all. They have some PowerPoints and a web site at GoDaddy of the type that's usually sold to mom-and-pop stores. And they've got a ton of entirely undeserved publicity, including from SciAm which should know better. Wake up, editor!

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2. 2. TheodoreJudah in reply to Scienceproofreader 01:16 PM 12/7/12

   Name the six from 2012.

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3. 3. TheodoreJudah in reply to BrucePerens 01:22 PM 12/7/12

   I wonder why you think their publicity is undeserved? To be sure, they have an audacious plan. That alone deserves some attention, don't you think? Or do you think this is just an elaborate scheme to make some money from the science and skepticism-loving public?

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4. 4. BrucePerens 01:29 PM 12/7/12

   Hi Theodore,
   
   There are a number of companies who are actually building spaceships, who, if able to surmount the technical issues, will take people to the moon. The important thing about these companies is that they have technology. What we are hearing from "Golden Spike" is that they will re-sell the technology of other companies. They don't have any technology and are shopping for vehicles the way you or I might visit an auto dealership.
   
   SpaceX is already working on the Grasshopper to refine vertical landing technology like that of the Lunar Module to return their booster to Earth. Videos of the first two demonstrations are all over the web. This is of course a lot easier - from a fuel perspective - in Lunar gravity. Various pther companies are working on earth-to-orbit - SpaceX seems to have the most mature solution for that at the moment. They would probably be able to take people to the moon without waiting for these two guys to buy their spaceship and do it.

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5. 5. Big Mama Roneck 02:19 PM 12/7/12

   This does read like a PR 'blinder'...a covertly issued PR release on behalf of a heavily caffeinated, fructose loaded beverage. Barnum and Bailey goes to the Moon is more like it. These 'space tourist' and 'free fall from space' adventures and contests are pure bunkum. It was a foregone conclusion that Burt Rutan would take out the Ansari X-Prize because he was so far ahead of the rest of the contenders and, unlike most of the others, had serious financial backing. No one else stood a chance. It was a 'no-contest' and the ten million dollar prize did not even come close to covering his development costs. Rutan was well along the path to success before Dr. Diamandis jumped on his coat-tails.
   Lunar exploration is important for many reasons - but it must be undertaken by scientists with international Government funding...not get-rich-quick entrepreneurs offering staggering, dinner party bragging rights for very rich and very dumb people.
   Also, I'm so disappointed to see SciAm run this drivel. What's with you guys? More junk stories like this and I might as well switch my subscription to Popular Mechanics or worse, Discover Magazine, or even worse, that Lou Dobbs thing.
   
   BMR
   

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6. 6. Dr. Strangelove 08:16 PM 12/12/12

   NASA can just charge a fee to space tourists for a few days stay at the ISS. A round-trip to the moon without landing is less expensive and more technically feasible for space tourists.

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