30 Nov, 2018
As part of Draper-led team, ispace to bid for contracts totaling US$2.6B over 10 years
TOKYO – November 29, 2018 – ispace announced today that Team Draper – of which ispace is a member – was one of 9 parties selected to participate in NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) Program. Through this endeavor, the team becomes eligible to bid for contracts to support NASA in the delivery of small rovers and instruments to meet lunar science and exploration needs, advance development of lunar landers for human missions and conduct more research on the Moon’s surface ahead of a human return. NASA made the announcement on November 29 (local time) at its Washington headquarters.
“ispace shares NASA’s philosophy that the Moon will unlock space for human exploration, and collaboration between the public and private sector is key for success,” said Takeshi Hakamada, ispace’s Founder & CEO. “Now, half a century after Draper cooperated with NASA on the Apollo moon landings, ispace is honored to join and support The Draper Team for the opportunity to make history once again.”
Team Draper is led by Draper, an American not-for-profit company with a heritage in space exploration dating to the Apollo Moon landings. Draper brought together a team with extensive and highly relevant experience in space to support the NASA CLPS Program:
Draper (prime) will provide payload operations and guidance, navigation and control systems for the lunar lander, as well as management of the team; General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems is responsible for carrying out the lunar lander manufacturing, assembly, integration and testing in the United States; ispace will act as the design agent for the lunar lander and mission operations, as well as provide high-frequency rideshare opportunities; and Spaceflight Industries Inc. is responsible for launch services including integration, mission management, launch and range documentation and pre- and post-operations.
About NASA CLPS Program
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) is a NASA program to contract transportation services able to send small robotic landers and rovers to the Moon. CLPS is intended to buy end-to-end payload services between Earth and the lunar surface using fixed priced contracts. The CLPS program is being operated by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
About ispace, inc. http://ispace-inc.com
ispace is a lunar exploration company with over 85 staff from 13 countries. The company has 3 global offices in Japan, Europe and the NASA Ames Research Park in the US, and signed agreements with JAXA and The Government of Luxembourg. ispace raised nearly $100 million USD in its Series A funding—more than almost any other space company in history. The funding is being used for its first two lunar missions in 2020 and 2021, which will both launch on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The missions – which are given the program name “HAKUTO-R” – are intended to lay the groundwork for high-frequency commercial missions.
About Draper https://www.draper.com/
Draper is recognized as the world’s premier institution and expert in Guidance, Navigation & Control technology, and has been involved in every American human space mission in history. An 86-year old company with a long-standing relationship with NASA, Draper is recognized for landing Apollo on the Moon, and safely bringing NASA astronauts to the Moon and back.
About General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems http://www.ga.com/ems
General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems is a global leader in the research, design, and manufacture of first-of-a-kind electromagnetic and electric power generation systems. GA-EMS’s portfolio of specialized products and integrated system solutions supports aviation, space systems and satellites, missile defense, power and energy, and processing and monitoring applications for critical defense, industrial, and commercial customers worldwide.
About Spaceflight Industries http://spaceflight.com/
A comprehensive launch services and mission management provider, the company provides a straightforward and cost-effective suite of products and services including state-of-the-art satellite infrastructure and rideshare launch offerings that enable commercial and government entities to achieve their mission goals on time and on budget. A service offering of Spaceflight Industries in Seattle Washington, Spaceflight provides its services through a global network of partners, ground stations and launch vehicle providers.
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