Latest news with #venturecompany
NHK
5 days ago
- Business
- NHK
Japanese firm yet to establish communications with lunar lander
A Tokyo-based venture company says it has yet to establish communications with its lunar lander that attempted to touch down on the Moon. It is aiming to become Japan's first private firm to have a craft successfully land on the lunar surface. The company, ispace, made the announcement shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Friday, Japan time. That was about 15 minutes after the spacecraft's planned landing time. The lander started to descend toward the lunar surface after 3 a.m. and was scheduled to touch down on a crater-less flat area in the Moon's northern hemisphere. The target landing site is part of the region called Mare Frigoris. A rocket carrying the craft lifted off from a launch site in the US state of Florida in January. The lander entered orbit about 100 kilometers above the Moon in late May. The company had failed in its first lunar landing attempt in 2023. It later overhauled its lander's control system and changed the touchdown target for the second attempt. Competition in lunar exploration has been intensifying. A US space exploration company became the first private firm to have an uncrewed lander successfully perform a lunar touchdown last year. Another US company followed suit in March this year.
NHK
07-05-2025
- Business
- NHK
Japanese venture firm's lunar lander enters Moon orbit
A Tokyo-based venture company has announced that it has succeeded in sending its lunar lander into orbit around the Moon. The firm ispace made the announcement on Wednesday. The lunar lander lifted off from a launch site in the US State of Florida in January. The venture company said it completed the orbit maneuver using the vehicle's main thruster for about nine minutes shortly before 21:00 UTC on Tuesday. It plans to gradually lower the altitude from about 100 kilometers above the lunar surface. The landing will be attempted at 19:24 UTC on June 5. This is ispace's second lunar landing attempt after its first effort failed in 2023. If successful, ispace will become the first Japanese private firm to achieve the feat. The challenge for ispace comes after US private space development companies succeeded in unmanned lunar landings in 2024 and 2025. Hakamada Takeshi, ispace CEO, says the company will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the landing.
