TOKYO – February 22, 2019 – The Asahi Shimbun Newspaper (hereinafter: “Asahi Shimbun”), one of the oldest and largest national daily newspapers in Japan, and lunar exploration company, ispace, inc., announced that Asahi Shimbun will become the Media Partner of HAKUTO-R, the world’s first commercial lunar exploration program.
HAKUTO-R is the world’s first private lunar exploration program consisting of multiple missions. It includes ispace’s first two lunar exploration missions: Mission 1, a Moon orbit in mid-2020, and Mission 2, a Moon landing in mid-2021. For both missions, ispace’s lunar lander and rovers will be carried as secondary payloads on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The program is intended to be technology demonstration, allowing ispace to lay the groundwork for higher-frequency, customer-focused missions.
Asahi Shimbun was the Media Partner of the HAKUTO team (managed by ispace) during their participation in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition, which ended in March 2018. For the HAKUTO-R program (The “R” in HAKUTO-R stands for “Reboot”), Asahi Shimbun decided to continue its contribution as a Media Partner in order to promote the next generation’s space industry and space resource development technologies.
Asahi Shimbun will continue to promote HAKUTO-R and its activities via print, digital and various events.
- Asahi Shimbun (https://www.asahi.com/)
The Asahi Shimbun is one of the five national newspapers in Japan. With a daily readership of 14 million and a combined morning and evening circulation of 7 million subscriptions, it has been Japan’s leading newspaper since its foundation in 1879. The company is headquartered in Osaka, Japan.
- ispace, inc. (https://ispace-inc.com/)
ispace, inc. (ispace) is a private lunar exploration company with a vision to extend human presence beyond Earth. The company has over 85 staff from 13 different countries; operates in Japan (HQ), Luxembourg and the US; and has signed partnerships with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Government of Luxembourg. ispace raised nearly $95 million (USD) in Series A funding—the largest on record in Japan and more than almost any other space company in history. ispace also managed Team HAKUTO, one of the 5 finalists in the Google Lunar XPRIZE competition.
- HAKUTO-R (https://ispace-inc.com/hakuto-r/)
HAKUTO-R is the world’s first private lunar exploration program consisting of multiple missions. It includes ispace’s first two lunar exploration missions: Mission 1, a Moon orbit in mid-2020, and Mission 2, a Moon landing in mid-2021. For both missions, ispace’s lunar lander and rovers will be carried as secondary payloads on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. The program is intended to be technology demonstration, allowing ispace to lay the groundwork for higher-frequency, customer-focused missions.
The ispace / HAKUTO-R Media Room can be accessed here.