Paul Blase and TransOrbital have been at the forefront of companies planning commercial Moon missions. Mr. Blase and his associates founded TransOrbital in 1998, to in his own words, "develop the lowest-cost, commercially profitable lunar mission, leading to future commercial lunar exploration and development, and eventually colonization." TransOrbital was recently awarded NOAA licenses for its mission, has obtain the necessary export permits required under the law, and its TrailBlazer mission is scheduled for October 2003 on a Russia Dnepr launch vehicle.