12 Nov, 2024
Mission Name “Venture Moon” Recognizes Opportunities for the Future
TOKYO – November 12, 2024 –ispace, inc. (ispace) (TOKYO: 9348), a global lunar exploration company, announced today Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), one of Japan’s leading banking institutions, as the Official Partner for the company’s HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program. As official partner, SMBC has chosen the mission name “Venture Moon” for ispace’s second mission.
As official partner of Mission 2, SMBC increases its support of ispace and the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, becoming the primary partner of the mission. Since joining as a corporate partner in 2020, SMBC has provided significant support for the HAKUTO-R program. As official partner, SMBC demonstrates its commitment to a shared vision of developing an economic zone between Earth and the Moon, known as the cislunar economy.
“We are very pleased to announce SMBC will serve as official partner for Mission 2,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder & CEO of ispace. “We would like to express our deep gratitude for their support to date, and by working together to take on the challenge of building the cislunar economy, we will create new social value and contribute to Japan and the world.”
“We are very pleased to be participating in the HAKUTO-R program as the official partner,” said Muneo Kanamaru, Director, Executive Vice President and Executive Officer, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. “As a group, we are actively working to create value with an eye to the future, with the aim of realizing a sustainable society, and we hope that through the growth of the space industry, we can contribute to the next generation of innovation and the creation of new industrial infrastructure, and we would like to support the challenges of the future.”
ispace’s vision “Expand the planet. Expand the future.” is to develop the cislunar economy, a broad concept that includes creating new markets, technologies, and infrastructure that support the realization of a sustainable society. As a lunar transportation service provider, ispace intends to expand its service of high-frequency, low-cost missions to lunar orbit and the lunar surface. Together the two companies expect to increase participation in the market and collaboratively support each other’s goals.
ispace is leveraging its global presence through its three business units in Japan, the U.S., and Luxembourg, for the simultaneous development of upcoming missions. Mission 2 is led by ispace Japan and is now scheduled for launch no earlier than January 2025. Mission 3, debuting the APEX 1.0 lunar lander, is led by ispace-U.S. and is expected to launch in 2026. Mission 6, which will utilize the Series 3 lander, currently being designed in Japan, is scheduled to be launched by 2027.
About ispace
ispace, a global lunar resource development company with the vision, “Expand our planet. Expand our future.”, specializes in designing and building lunar landers and rovers. ispace aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon. The company has business entities in Japan, Luxembourg, and the United States with more than 300 employees worldwide. For more information, visit: www.ispace-inc.com and follow us on X: @ispace_inc.
HAKUTO-R (https://ispace-inc.com/hakuto-r/)
HAKUTO-R is a lunar exploration program operated consisting of ispace’s first two lunar missions: Mission 1, completed in 2023, and Mission 2, a lunar landing and deployment of a rover planned to launch no earlier than January 2025.
HAKUTO-R’s official partners include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and its corporate partners include Japan Airlines Co., Ltd., Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Ltd., NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd., Citizen Watch Co., Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation, Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd., SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., Sky Corporation, Epiroc AB, JINS Inc. and Kurita Water Industries Ltd.