Flight to moon by private firm approved by U.S. for 1st time

A Florida-basedcompany won U.S. government permission on Wednesday to send arobotic lander to the moon next year, the firm's founder said,marking the first time the United States has cleared a privatespace mission to fly beyond Earth's orbit.

The Federal Aviation Administration's unprecedented go-aheadfor the Moon Express mission also sets a legal and regulatoryframework for a host of other commercial expeditions to themoon, asteroids and Mars.

As approved by the FAA's Office of Commercial SpaceTransportation, the privately held Moon Express, headquarteredin Cape Canaveral, plans to fly a suitcase-sized lander to themoon for a two-week mission in 2017, said the company founderand chief executive Bob Richards.

The spacecraft will carry a number of science experimentsand some commercial cargo on its one-way trip to the lunarsurface, including cremated human remains, and will beam backpictures and video to Earth, the company said.

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Before now, no government agency was recognized as havingauthority to oversee private missions beyond Earth's orbit,though a 1967 international treaty holds the United Statesresponsible for any flights into space by its non-governmententities.

So far, only government agencies have flown spacecraftbeyond the orbit of the Earth.

To address the conundrum, the FAA, which already exercisesjurisdiction over commercial rocket launches in the UnitedStates, led an interagency review of the Moon Express proposal,which included steps the company would take to ensure compliancewith the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

"It's been a very steep mountain," Richards said in atelephone interview. "We had to lay the track at the same time
that we wanted to do the mission."

Other companies are expected to soon follow the sameframework.

Elon Musk, founder and chief executive of Space ExplorationTechnologies, plans to fly a spacecraft to Mars in 2018, a
mission that raises a host of issues dealing with protectingpotential indigenous life on the planet from contamination by
Earth microbes.

Among other private space ventures in the works are missionsto mine asteroids, operate science labs and repair and servicesatellites.

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Planetary protection is less of a concern on the moon, butMoon Express did have to contend with concerns about disturbingApollo and other historic lunar landing sites, among otherissues.

"We proposed a scenario that built on the existing FAAmission-approval framework," Richards said.

NASA and other agencies, including the Defense, State andCommerce departments, ultimately agreed that no new law wasnecessary, Richards said.

As part of the agreement, NASA will advise, but notregulate, Moon Express activities on the lunar surface.