A long-exposure photo shows the path of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket as it launched its ispace mission on Dec. 11, 2022, as well as the rocket booster return and landing.
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Japanese lunar exploration company ispace kicked off its long-awaited first mission on Sunday, with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching the venture’s lunar lander from Florida.
“This is truly the beginning of a new era,” ispace founder and CEO Tsuyoshi Hakamada told CNBC.
The Tokyo-based company’s Mission 1 is currently on its way to the Moon and is expected to land near the end of April.
Founded over 10 years ago, ispace Google Lunar Xprize Named Hakuto, after the mythical Japanese white rabbit. After the cancellation of the Xprize competition, ispace has pivoted and expanded its goals, with Hakamada aiming to create an “economically viable ecosystem” around the moon, he said in a recent said in an interview.
While working towards this initial mission, the company has grown steadily and now employs over 200 people worldwide, including approximately 50 in its US subsidiary in Denver. In addition, ispace has been steadily raising money from various investors, and so far he has raised $237 million in a combination of equity and debt. ispace’s investors include Development Bank of Japan, Suzuki Motor Corporation, Japan Airlines and Airbus Ventures.
The ispace Mission 1 lander carries small rovers and payloads from many government agencies and companies, including the United States, Canada, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
The ispace Mission 1 spacecraft deploying from the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket on December 11, 2022.
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ispace before launch Outline 10 milestones The company has so far completed the first three tasks of launch preparation, post-launch deployment, and establishing a communications link. Next comes an orbital maneuver and his month-long space flight before entering lunar orbit. The milestones illustrate the complexity and difficulty of ispace’s mission, with Hakamada emphasizing confidence in the mission and saying each milestone represents another step towards the company’s goals. .
“I have 100% confidence in the engineering team. They did the right thing to make the moon landing a success,” said Hakamada.
If successful, ispace will be the first private company to land on the moon.
The company’s Mission 1 lunar lander.
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