Weekend Edition
Fri-Mon / 3-6 March 2023

ispace HAKUTO-R M1 Nearing Moon / Attempt at 1st Commercial Landing, M2 and M3 to Advance ‘Cislunar Ecosystem’

Now on Moon-bound trajectory <800,000km from Earth (having reached distance of 1,376,000km in fuel efficient route), Hakuto-R lander team managing higher than expected thermal loads while working toward 6th ‘mission success milestone’, clearing way for Lunar Orbital Insertion by mid-March, landing on Moon late-April; M2 (NET 2024) Structural Thermal Model under construction in Japan, flight model build to start NET April in Germany; M3 (NET 2024) with Draper under US$73M NASA CLPS contract to carry AstronetX astronomical imager L-CAM; ispace mission control located in Tokyo with subsidiary offices in Luxembourg and Denver CO

Pictured: (T-B) ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada, ispace CTO Ryo Ujiie; Credits: ispace, Canadensys