PanamaTimes

Saturday, Dec 21, 2024

Japan’s ispace launches historic first commercial Moon lander

Privately-funded explorer carried by SpaceX rocket aims to touch down on the Atlas Crater in April.

A Japanese space startup has launched its own private lander to the Moon aboard a SpaceX rocket, marking a significant step towards what would be a historic first, both for the nation and a private company.

The Tokyo-based ispace Inc’s HAKUTO-R mission took off without incident from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday after two postponements caused by inspections of its SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The company designed its craft to use minimal fuel to save money and leave more room for cargo.

It is taking a slow, low-energy path to the Moon, flying 1.6 million km (one million miles) from Earth before looping back and making a planned landing by the end of April.

By contrast, NASA’s Orion crew capsule with test dummies took five days to reach the Moon last month. The lunar flyby mission is anticipated to end on Sunday with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.


Aiming for the Atlas Crater


The ispace craft aims to put a small NASA satellite into lunar orbit to search for water deposits before touching down in the Atlas Crater, which lies in the northeastern section of the Moon’s near side and measures more than 87km (54 miles) across and just over 2km (1.2 miles) deep.

The M1 lander will deploy two robotic rovers, a two-wheeled, orange-sized device from Japan’s JAXA space agency and a four-wheeled unit made by the United Arab Emirates, known as the Explorer Rashid, after the Dubai royal family patriarch.

It will also be carrying an experimental solid-state battery made by NGK Spark Plug Co, a Japanese-based spark plug company.

The national space agencies of the United States, Russia and China have achieved soft landings on Earth’s nearest neighbour in the past half century, but Japan has not nor have any private companies.

Mission success would also represent a milestone in space cooperation between Japan and the US at a time when China is becoming increasingly competitive and rides on Russian rockets are no longer available in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The company hopes the HAKUTO-R project – whose name refers to the white rabbit that Japanese folklore suggests lives on the Moon – will be the first of many deliveries of government and commercial payloads.

It has a contract with NASA to ferry payloads to the Moon from 2025 and is aiming to build a permanently staffed lunar colony by 2040.

The ispace lander will aim for the Atlas Crater on the northeastern section of the Moon’s near side


‘The dawn of the Lunar economy’


Sunday also marked the 50th anniversary of the astronauts’ last lunar landing by Apollo 17’s Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt on December 11, 1972.

Takeshi Hakamada, ispace’s founder and CEO, said NASA’s Apollo moonshots were all “about the excitement of the technology”.

Now, he noted in the SpaceX launch webcast, “it’s the excitement of the business”.

“This is the dawn of the lunar economy … Let’s go to the Moon,” Hakamada said.

Liftoff had originally been scheduled for two weeks ago but was delayed by SpaceX for extra rocket checks.

Eight minutes after launch, the recycled first-stage booster landed back at Cape Canaveral under a near-full Moon, the double sonic booms echoing through the night.

Founded in 2010, ispace was among the finalists in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition requiring a successful landing on the Moon by 2018. The lunar rover built by ispace never launched.

Another finalist, an Israeli nonprofit called SpaceIL, managed to reach the Moon in 2019. But instead of landing gently, the spacecraft Beresheet slammed into the Moon and was destroyed.

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
A large group of unauthorized migrants is traveling through Mexico with the aim of reaching the USA before Trump assumes office.
A Democrat Congresswoman with blue and black hair is having a breakdown over "President Musk."
Argentina Defies Predictions with Record $17 Billion Trade Surplus, But Is the Growth Sustainable?
Disney's High Seas Gamble: Navigating the Waters of Cruise Expansion
The Surprising Impact of Extreme Heat on Mexico's Youth
Polarization: The Word That Unites a Divided Era
Exoneration in the Subway: The Complexities of Self-Defense and Public Safety
The Tragic Passing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Highlights Corporate Security Challenges
Global Developments: Violence in Sinaloa, Political Chaos in the Bahamas, Venezuelan Voting Disputes, and a Major UK Drug Bust
OpenAI and Anduril: Charting AI's Path in Modern Warfare
The Pardon of Hunter Biden: A Symbol of Hypocrisy
Biden Crafted the Strategy Used by Trump
South Korea's Democracy Tested: President Yoon’s Martial Law Reversal Sparks Political Reckoning
Seoul Crisis: Yoon Suk Yeol's Martial Law Blunder Triggers Political Upheaval
Generative AI's Limited Impact on Elections Highlighted by Meta
France at the Precipice: Barnier’s Administration Confronts Unprecedented No-Confidence Vote
Jaguar Unveils Electric Concept Car, Type 00
White House Defends Presidential Pardon of Hunter Biden
xAI by Elon Musk: Transforming Ambition with a $50 Billion Valuation
President-elect Donald Trump, has announced on Truth Social that Kashyap "Kash" Patel, will be the next Director of the FBI
A Historic Milestone or Risky Precedent? The Assisted Dying Bill Splits both Parliament and the Nation in England and Wales
Trump's Tariff Threat Looms Large as Trudeau Heads to Mar-a-Lago for Talks
Canada's Oil Industry Faces Uncertainty Amidst Trump's Tariff Threat
World Court to Assess Global Legal Responsibilities on Climate Change
What the Pink Elephant Test Reveals About Thought Control
Trudeau Visits Trump in Florida Amid Rising Tariff Concerns
Is Elon Musk the Unofficial President of America?
Impact of Proposed US Tariffs on Canadian Oil Exports
U.S. policymakers face a contentious debate over whether to engage with Nicolás Maduro's regime in Venezuela.
COP29's Carbon Trading Deal Faces Major Criticisms
Indian Diplomats in Canada Monitored: Government Raises Alarm
Putin Warns Trump of Ongoing Safety Concerns
Claudia Sheinbaum Challenges Trump's Migration Claims
Insights from Dostoevsky: The Impact of Self-Deception
Trump Administration Nominees Face Threats, FBI Confirms
Elon Musk Criticizes Fighter Jets, Advocates for Drone Warfare
Kim Kardashian's Social Media Activity Fuels Political Speculation
An Examination of AI's Influence on Future Work and Life
Tulsi Gabbard's Contentious Nomination for Director of National Intelligence
$100,000 Trump Watch Faces Slow Sales
Surge in Golden Visa Interest Among Americans Post-Trump Election
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy Aim to Reduce US Federal Spending
Donald Trump nominated Linda McMahon for the position of Secretary of Education.
Russia Pledges Response Following Ukraine's Use of US Long-Range Missiles
Joe Biden Joins G20 Leaders' Photo Re-Take in Rio
Trump Plans to Reverse Biden's Fuel and EV Regulations
WHO Approves Second Vaccine for Mpox Emergency Use
Donald Trump's Unnamed Presence Looms Over G20 Summit
Trump Media and Technology Group's Shares Surge Amid Crypto Exchange Acquisition Talks
The Rising Menace of AI-Generated Deepfake Pornography
×