Moon Express details plans to mine the moon with robots by 2020

Spaceflight company Moon Express has released its plans to mine the moon with robots and it aims to get started by 2020. The company was founded in 2010 with the aim of winning the Google Lunar Xprize -- a competition to get privately funded spacecraft on the moon. And while it still has its sights on that prize, Moon Express has planned beyond that and has laid out a strategy for establishing its lunar outpost in just a few years. The company's first moon mission, dubbed Lunar Scout, will use Rocket Lab's Electron rocket to send its MX-1E robotic explorer to land on and deliver several payloads -- including the International Lunar Observatory -- to the moon. If completed by the end of this year and before the four other finalists for the Lunar Xprize, this mission could win Moon Express the competition's $20 million prize.