ispace of Japan Gathers Commercial Moon Team Ahead of Independent Missions
In what may be the most significant private lunar effort outside of NASA CLPS, an international coalition led by ispace is preparing for Q2 2022 Mission 1, with final assembly of flight-ready Hakuto-R lander underway at Arianespace facility in Germany; payloads include optics from Canadensys and AI from Mission Control Space Services (Canada), solid-state battery test from NGK (Japan), 10-kg Rashid rover (UAE); 2023 Mission 2 includes Oxygen harvesting experiment from Helios (Israel); Lunar Industry Vision Council of Japan seeking “self-sustaining lunar industry” within “new cis-lunar space ecosystem”
New procurement initiative Lunar Exploration Transportation Services (LETS), part of HLS program under Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, issues 
18.6-year lunar nodal cycle caused by Moon’s 5.145° inclination from solar ecliptic may magnify coastal flooding, with peaks of high tide activity centering around mid-2030s amid 3.6 mm / yr 
With momentum of 107-km New Shepard SpaceDay private human mission over Kármán line with oldest / youngest spaceflight participants Wally Funk (82) and Oliver Daemen (18), Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos may focus on long-term vision including Blue Moon project / New Armstrong heavy lift rocket – while HLS award status to be determined by U.S. GAO by Aug 4, Bezos commands sufficient resources (US$200B+) to self-fund; MSP offers mix of sunlight (power) and shadowed regions (water) for liquid hydrogen fuel (powering BE-7 engines), regolith for O’Neill Cylinder construction 
Israel nonprofit prepares for Beresheet-2, an ambitious 3-craft mission; 2 landers (120kg wet) are to study Moon from Near and Far Sides, while “Mothership” will remain in orbit for nominal 2-year duration to facilitate science and student communication; US$70M of estimated total $100M cost being provided by philanthropists Patrick Drahi, Morris Kahn, Martin Moshal; SpaceIL now led by Shimon Sarid, formerly of IAF, and will again partner with state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, Space Agency and Ministry of Science & Technology
2021 Lunar Development Conference 9-10 July To Be 
Crewed Launch Vehicle Being Developed By China Aerospace Science and Technology Codenamed 921, Reference To Chinese National Manned Space Program (Shenzhou) 1992 Founding Date, May Be More Timely Alternative Than Super Heavy Lift Vehicle Long March 9 To Achieve China Human Moon Landing; LM-9 Most Recent Design Iteration Calls For 10.6-m Diameter Core Stage With 16 YF-135 Engines Sans Auxiliary Boosters, Suggestive Of Reusability Goals; ‘921 Rocket’ Speculated To Be Designated Long March 5DY And Could Be Used To Ferry Crew To TLI With 2-Craft Configuration By 2025
Momentous July Days For Private Space Travel Forthcoming, As Virgin Galactic And Blue Origin Founders Richard Branson And Jeff Bezos Plan To Personally Launch To Space 11 July And 20 July, Respectively, Raising Question Of Next Horizons: While Elon Musk Of SpaceX Has Focused On Mars Habitation, Bezos Plans Massive Rotating Artificial Structures In The Vein Of Gerard O’Neill, Branson Intent On Terrestrial Point-To-Point Space Travel, Establishment Of Human Settlement On Earth’s Moon Is Increasingly Recognized As “Critical Next Step” In Transformation To Multi-World Species Status; SpaceX Only Company To Declare Private Crewed Lunar Mission, 2023 ‘DearMoon’ Financed By Japan Fashion Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa