Japan�s ispace aims for December launch of second moon landing

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.