The robotic Mission 1 spacecraft from Ispace most likely crashed as it headed toward the moon’s surface on Tuesday. It was a setback for the private Japanese space company as well as a total loss of several valuable payloads for customers that were trying to reach the moon. Two countries […]
Hakuto
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A picture of Earth during a lunar eclipse, taken from the moon by the Hakuto-R spacecraft ispace Another lander has crashed on the moon. The lunar lander Hakuto-R, launched by Japanese firm ispace in December 2022, was supposed to touch down on the moon on 25 April. If it had […]
A Japanese company called ispace is about to attempt a landing on the moon. If successful, it will be the first private company to achieve such a feat, following in the footsteps of US, Chinese and Soviet national space agencies. What is the ispace mission? To put its lander, named […]
WASHINGTON — A Japanese company planning a series of lunar lander missions has raised $28 million that will allow it to complete development of its first mission. Tokyo-based ispace announced Aug. 20 it raised the Series B round from a number of investors, led by Incubate Fund, a Japanese venture […]
WASHINGTON — Japanese company ispace has updated the design of its commercial lunar lander while delaying its first flight by a year. The company unveiled the revised design of its Hakuto-R lander July 30 as it completed the critical design review of the spacecraft. The lander is scheduled to make […]
WASHINGTON — Japanese lunar lander company ispace says it’s on track to launch its first mission in 2021 while supporting an American partner on potential NASA missions. In an interview during the 70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here Oct. 23, Takeshi Hakamada, founder and chief executive of Tokyo-based ispace, said […]
WASHINGTON — Days after Astrobotic announced its selection of United Launch Alliance to launch its first lunar lander, Japanese lunar lander company ispace says it is modifying its schedule for commercial lunar lander missions. Tokyo-based ispace said Aug. 22 that it is dropping plans to do an initial orbital mission, […]
WASHINGTON — A year after a $20 million prize purse expired, a team in the former Google Lunar X Prize competition could still pick up a smaller consolation prize if it lands on the moon next month. The X Prize Foundation announced March 28 that it will offer a $1 […]