Privately-sponsored Telescope a Symbol of a Space Revolution, Makers Say

A telescope designed to send images of the Earth and space taken from the Moon via the Internet was unveiled on May 25 at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver, Canada.

Named the International Lunar Observatory Precursor (ILO-X), the telescope is the world’s first privately-sponsored lunar telescope and marks, in the minds of some, a major step in the democratization of space science.

“Today we are witnessing a revolution in access to space, made possible by innovation and entrepreneurship beyond Earth,” the company’s chairman and founder Naveen Jain said in an article he wrote for Forbes. In it he explained that, for reasons like his company's telescope, “[Space] is not just a playpen for large government programs or ‘big science’ anymore.”

The device, though only the size of a shoe-box and approximately 5 pounds, is designed to capture images not only of Earth, but other planets and even galaxies – all of which will be made available to the general public, according to its makers.

To do so, the ILO-X employs “innovative optical technology in combination with advanced software and microminiaturzed electronics,” according to a press release on the Vancouver event.

First tested in 2011 during a Global Demonstration from the Summit of Mauna Kea, the ILO-X is scheduled for a 2015 launch.

"The primary goal of the International Lunar Observatory is to expand human understanding of the Galaxy and Cosmos through observation from our Moon," Steve Durst, the director of the project, said at the telescope’s unveiling. "We are extremely excited about sending the ILO-X to the Moon as soon as possible, and continuing our progress toward a permanent human presence on the Moon."

For Jain, however, the ILO-X represents a person victory as well as a public one.

“As a boy growing up in poverty in India, I used to look up at the Moon with wondering,” he wrote. “As inspirational as that was, I didn’t imagine that I could ever play a role in exploring it.”