1 Jan, 2026
“Earthrise” image captured by RESILIENCE Lander during Mission 2, May 27, 2025
TOKYO—January 1, 2026—The following statement was released by Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace, inc.:
Happy New Year!
As we begin 2026, I extend my sincere New Year’s greetings.
2025 was a year of trials and learning for us.
Mission 2, our attempt to make a comeback, was a challenging endeavor to land on the Moon. Unfortunately, we did not achieve a successful landing. We approached this mission with confidence, determined that this time we would succeed, and the failure to land was deeply frustrating. However, through this process, we achieved numerous technological milestones and gained solid insights that will carry us forward.
Above all, I feel immense pride in the team’s unwavering commitment to facing this challenge head-on until the very last moment. Even today, the team is striving to learn from failure and build toward the future. This truly embodies the very essence of ispace’s unshakable strength.
Space development cannot be fully evaluated or described solely by a single success or failure.
True success lies beyond the accumulation of challenges. The lessons learned from Mission 2 are definitively being applied to the development of the next missions, and ispace is moving forward with greater conviction than ever before.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to our shareholders, corporate partners, government officials, and customers who have consistently believed in, supported, and encouraged ispace.
2026 will be a critically important year for the success of our next mission, as we undertake the initial phases of commercialization. On the development front, we will further strengthen our technical and organizational foundations to enhance the design maturity of the first large lander.
On the business front, we will gauge domestic and international policy trends to maximize growth opportunities. In Japan, space is positioned as one of the strategic fields under the government’s “Crisis Management Investment” pillar—a core element of the Takaichi Cabinet’s growth strategy—and the expansion of the space industry through public-private partnerships is gaining momentum. Within this context, ispace will actively participate in government projects, fulfilling its role as a key contributor to Japan’s space strategy.
Furthermore, in the United States, with the appointment of Jared Isaacman, a NASA Administrator with strong business background, an executive order has been issued making the Moon the top priority of space policy to secure U.S. leadership in space. Amidst the international space development competition and industrial creation starting from the Moon, ispace will leverage the advantages of its business entities in Japan, the U.S., and Europe to further advance customer acquisitions and contracts globally through public-private-academic partnerships.
To meet the rapidly growing demand for lunar orbit satellites, we will advance our development study of an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) utilizing technologies proven in our missions, challenging ourselves to create new business opportunities.
Building the Cislunar economy is not a future someone else will realize for us.
It is a future we ourselves must pioneer.
We will make the next mission succeed.
Driven by this strong conviction, we believe ispace’s mission is to apply what we learn, evolve, and deliver results.
We are determined to push forward at full speed in 2026.
We are sincerely grateful for your continued support and trust in us this year.
Takeshi Hakamada