REUTERS
September 12, 2024 at 13:00 JST
A replica of ispace Inc.’s lunar lander is shown in Tokyo on April 26, 2023. (The Asahi Shimbun)
Japanese space exploration company ispace will launch its second moon landing mission as early as in December, chief executive Takeshi Hakamada said on Thursday.
The “Hakuto-R Mission 2” will see ispace’s spacecraft delivered by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida and will attempt a lunar touchdown after four to five months of spaceflight, Hakamada said.
“I’m excited that our re-attempt to the moon is approaching,” he told a press conference. The second mission would follow ispace’s first touchdown attempt in April 2023, which failed in the final moments due to altitude miscalculation.
The Tokyo-based startup aims to follow the success of U.S.-based Intuitive Machines, which in February made the world’s first private moon landing.
Hakamada founded ispace in 2010. The company now employs about 300 people in Japan, the United States and Luxembourg.
The moon is an emerging frontier in countries’ race to find water, fuel and other resources that would sustain human life, among other goals. National missions of India, Japan and China have landed on the lunar surface since last year.
The U.S. plans its first astronaut lunar landing in half a century in 2026 as part of its Artemis program.
Lunar startup ispace delays NASA-sponsored mission to 2026
September 29, 2023
Japanese company’s lander rockets toward moon with UAE rover
December 12, 2022
Japanese lunar exploration firm plans moon launch in 2022
January 26, 2022
Japan’s ispace on track for late April touchdown attempt of private moon lander
February 28, 2023
Japan startup's failed moon landing caused by altitude miscalculation, company says
May 27, 2023
Sensor problem likely depleted fuel before lunar lander crash
April 26, 2023
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
