Japan Authorizes ispace to Prospect on Moon During HAKUTO-R Mission 1 Launching NET Nov 22
First license under Japan Space Resources Act now held by ispace, which is set to lead wave of commercial Moon landing activity with M1, currently awaiting launch opportunity via SpaceX F9 at KSC SLC-40 to ~3-month low energy transfer, landing at Lacus Somniorum (37.56° N, 30.8° E) on Moon; ispace plans to collect and sell lunar regolith ‘in place’ to NASA during M1 under US$5,000 contract; CEO Takeshi Hakamada says “Space resource utilization is another step toward our goal of establishing the cislunar economy” in release