In two weeks, ispace will attempt to boldly go where no private company has landed before: the surface of the moon. The Japanese exploration company has set April 25, 2023, as the earliest landing date for its HAKUTO-R spacecraft.

This is turning out to be a particularly busy year for flights to the moon, with commercial companies and universities taking leading roles. Let’s look at the status of spacecraft that are at, headed for, or being prepared for launch to our nearest celestial neighbor.

M1 and M2 currently planned for launch as early as Q4 2022* and 2024*, respectively, and an early look at a new micro rover planned for first deployment on M2, among other updates

TOKYO – January 25, 2022 – Today, ispace, inc. (ispace), a lunar exploration company with its headquarters in Japan and regional offices in the United States and Europe, shared key developments related to the company’s HAKUTO-R program, which consists of its planned first and second lunar missions, Mission 1 (M1) and Mission 2 (M2).

Airbus Defence and Space and Abu Dhabi’s Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre have signed an agreement to work together on the Emirates Lunar Mission to operate the Rashid rover on the moon next year. The Khaleej Times reports: The MBRSC recently signed an agreement with Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus responsible for defence and aerospace products and services, for collaboration on the country’s Mission to Moon for […]

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will collaborate on a mission to the moon, analyze data from an Israeli-French Earth observation satellite, and launch a joint education satellite under a landmark agreement signed last week to cooperate on a range of space projects, the Israel Space Agency (ISA) announced.

The two nations will collaborate on Genesis 2, an $100 million Israeli mission to launch an orbiter to the moon and deploy landers at two different locations on the lunar surface. The mission, which is to be half funded with foreign contributions, is scheduled to launch in 2024.

• Emirates Lunar Mission’s ‘Rashid’ rover to go to the Moon on ispace’s Mission 1 in 2022
• ispace to provide payload delivery, and communication and power services for the rover
• Agreement further strengthens UAE-Japan collaboration in space exploration

Dubai, UAE, 14 April 2021 (ispace PR) — The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) has signed a contract with Japan’s ispace, inc. (ispace), under which the latter will provide payload delivery services for the ambitious Emirates Lunar Mission. Under this agreement, ispace becomes a key strategic and implementation partner to MBRSC on the Emirates Lunar Mission, the first of its kind from the Arab world.