The Rocket City Space Pioneers – a partnership of Huntsville businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations – have announced that Dassault Systemes SolidWorks has partnered with them as a sponsor to provide software for their entry in the Google Lunar X PRIZE (GLXP).
The GLXP is a $30 million competition that challenges space professionals and engineers from across the globe to build and launch to the Moon a privately funded spacecraft capable of completing a series of exploration and transmission tasks.
Headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., Team Rocket City Space Pioneers is comprised of seven organizations and is among 20 teams from a dozen countries that are registered in the competition.
The Rocket City Space Pioneers, led by Huntsville-based company Dynetics and comprised of Huntsville partners Teledyne Brown Engineering, Andrews Space, Spaceflight Services, Draper Laboratory, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Von Braun Center for Science and Innovation, will compete for the Google Lunar X PRIZE with their lunar lander/rover system.
The team will use SolidWorks CAD and SolidWorks Simulation software on designs for their lunar lander system. Leading the team is Tim Pickens, Dynetics' chief propulsion engineer.
No stranger to space competition, Pickens was also the lead propulsion engineer for the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE winning SpaceShipOne team.
"We are excited with SolidWorks' generous contribution to the Rocket City Space Pioneers' mission to compete in this competition and win with our lunar lander and rover," said Pickens.
"SolidWorks has an outstanding reputation, and we are excited to include the SolidWorks software in our toolkit."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
