Moon Express raises $12.5 million and targets 2020 for moon mission

Moon Express Chief Executive Bob Richards said that the funding will support redevelopment of Launch Complex (LC) 17 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a former Delta 2 launch site that the company is leasing from the Air Force to serve as a spacecraft development and test center.
 
“The $10 million will allow us to complete key renovations at LC-17 and pull the trigger on ordering long-lead flight hardware and building the spacecraft for our maiden flight, which will be synced to coincide with customer schedules for their payload readiness,” Richards said in an Oct. 1 email.
 
Richards added that July 2020 is a “reasonable goal” for that first mission.
 
A $2.5 million bridge round was led by Miami-based Minerva Capital Group.
$10 million of a planned $20 million Series B round was led by an undisclosed lead investor.