The authorization from the US Government means next year's planned lunar mission by Moon Express will not only be the first by a private company, but the first time a private company will leave Earth's orbit.

Moon Express was founded in 2010 by entrepreneurs Dr. Bob Richards, Naveen Jain and Dr. Barney Pell. It is one of a number of commercial outfits seeking to begin operating in space (indeed, the news coincides with Virgin Galactic being awarded an operator license for its SpaceShipTwo) and is among those competing in the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

Up until now, all commercial space companies have been confined to operating within Earth's orbit and that has become commonplace, with the likes of SpaceX providing taxi services to and from the International Space Station. Moon Express says that this opportunity to fly beyond Earth's orbit, however, is the start of its long-term goal to explore and develop lunar resources.